Modern Office Building

Africa's Premier Impact Driven Venture Capital Fund

Investing In Africa’s Future

A Level 1 B-BBEE Black-Owned fund investing in youth-led technology solutions that solve Africa's critical public sector challenges at scale.

The Opportunity

Africa's Tech Moment is Now

The African Context

  • 1.4 billion people : Africa's population projected to reach 2.5B by 2050
  • 60%+ youth population : The youngest and fastest-growing workforce on Earth
  • R289.9B spent on grants : Without generating durable employment or enterprises
  • $2.3 Trillion market : Global intentional capital allocation shift
  • 33% unemployment : SA's national unemployment rate creating urgent demand

Why Tech? Why Now?

Mobile-first continent

70%+ internet access via mobile digital solutions reach everyone

Sovereign AI demand

Governments seeking locally-built, culturally aligned solutions

B-BBEE alignment

Tech investment unlocks enterprise development scorecards

First-mover advantage

Africa's digital infrastructure is still being built now is entry time

The Ecosystem

A Decade-Proven, Closed-Loop Innovation Engine

Three integrated entities manage the full venture lifecycle from talent identification to enterprise deployment.

The Spark

Empire Partner
Foundation


Section 18A NPO. Runs 40+ hackathons, the Solve for X program, and identifies raw tech talent from underserved communities.

The Enabler

AI Campus


Bridges university theory and industry execution. Trains AI, data science, and software engineering skills then retains the best talent internally.

The Accelerator

EPF Tech Fund


Privately managed VC fund. Provides pre-seed capital, B-BBEE compliance solutions, and strategic support to scale portfolio companies across Africa.

Investment Thesis

How We Create & Capture Value

01

Mission-Driven Sourcing

40+ hackathons identify solutions targeting Africa's 10 critical socio-economic challenges ensuring inherent product-market fit before any capital is deployed.

02

Indigenous Innovation

All solutions are built by African developers for African contexts sovereign data security, cultural alignment, and government procurement preference.

03

De-Risked Pipeline

Portfolio companies enter the fund post-hackathon validation and AI Campus incubation reducing early-stage risk that kills most African startups.

04

B-BBEE Optimised

As a Level 1 B-BBEE Black-Owned fund, investments unlock Enterprise & Supplier Development spend for JSE-listed corporate co-investors.

05

Full Lifecycle Support

Beyond capital: business modelling, financial strategy, market access, strategic partnerships with Telcos and Banks active value creation.

06

Proven Liquidity Events

R114 million in realised value delivered in 2023 strategic exits demonstrating a clear path from early stage to institutional-grade exit.

Flagship Investments

Proven Traction at Scale

Fintech

Paypoint

100,000+
POS Terminals

Sovereign-grade transaction gateway providing payment rails for utilities, government grant disbursements, and financial institutions across South Africa.

CEO testimonial: scaled to 100K+ terminals with strategic Telco & Bank partnerships.

IoT

Visiosoft

150,000
Devices • 23 Countries

Industrial IoT device design & manufacture sensors for smart utilities, asset tracking, and environmental monitoring. Scaled across sub-Saharan Africa.

Invested 2017 • scaled to 150K devices across 23 countries in 4 years.

IoT • Data

Smartview Technology

2,500 Clients
28 Projects Completed

API-ready IoT data visualisation platform integrated with 20+ IoT devices — enterprise-grade utility monitoring reducing Non-Revenue Water losses.

From limited traction in 2018 to 2,500 clients and 28 completed enterprise projects.

Track Record

A Decade of Measurable Impact

R114M

Realised exits (2023)

R300M+

Gross Value Add (GVA)

R300M+

Funding injected

23+

Active investments

750+

Actual jobs created

1,000+

Targeted job creation

12,000+

Youth trained

17

Startups incubated

50+

SMMEs created

3

Tech hubs in South Africa

Cumulative Portfolio Value Created (R million)
12
28
52
88
145
210
300
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

The Investment Case

Why Partner With EPF Tech Fund?

Aligned with Global ESG Mandates

Every investment targets verified socio-economic outcomes tracked via the VSI Platform audit-ready data for institutional ESG reporting.

B-BBEE & Tax Efficiency

Level 1 B-BBEE fund status unlocks Enterprise Development scorecard points. Co-investors access enhanced ESD multipliers through the blended model.

Institutional-Grade Governance

Independent advisory board, separation of capital and asset management, quarterly reporting structured for pension funds and DFIs.

Strategic Network Access

Portfolio companies benefit from existing relationships with Microsoft, Deloitte, Vodacom, MTN, Standard Bank, Bayer, IFC, and 30+ global institutions.

Investor Profiles We Serve

Institutional

Pension funds, DFIs & asset managers seeking ESG-aligned long-term returns. Min. R100M tranches.

Corporate CSI/ESD

JSE-listed companies converting mandatory B-BBEE spend into recyclable, measurable impact capital.

Impact Investors

Dual-yield seekers — financial return via profit recycling plus cash impact bonus at 5-year exit.

Family Offices

High-net-worth and philanthropic capital seeking verified outcomes with Section 18A tax certificates.

Meet the Team

Innovators Driving Growth

Team
Joanna Jacqueline Govender

chief executive officer

Team
Brenda Chetty

Head of Finance

Mikhial Mariemuthu

DIRECTOR

Hlumelo Toyo

Analyst

Nangani Sigama

Analyst

Simphiwe Soga

Head of Tech Operations

Lesedi Tsoku

Digital Media Analyst

Zakes Sithole

Creative Media Prdoducer

Advisory Board

Strategic Oversight & Governance

Ismail Sadek
Ismail Sadek

Senior Advisor

Bringing decades of institutional oversight and strategic guidance.

Blessing Mudavanhu
Dr Blessing Mudavanhu

Senior Advisor

Driving governance, compliance, and sustainable market expansion.

Strategic Partners

Trusted by Africa's Leading Institutions

Corporate
Microsoft Microsoft
Deloitte Deloitte
Vodacom Vodacom
MTN MTN
Standard Bank Standard Bank
Bayer Bayer
Government
SALGA SALGA
Dept. of Science & Innovation Dept. of Science & Innovation
NCR NCR
NYDA NYDA
Academia
Univ. of Pretoria Univ. of Pretoria
TUT TUT
Univ. of Leeds Univ. of Leeds
British Council British Council
Finance & Development
IFC IFC
Effectus Capital Mgmt Effectus Capital Mgmt
Queensway Capital Queensway Capital

Key Sector areas We Focus On

We are aligned with the Empire Partner Foundation’s strategy to solve 10 key socio-economic challenges using technology. We identify youth-led solutions within these sectors that are scalable across the continent, transforming local economies while delivering exceptional returns.

Water
Water
Housing
Housing
Energy
Energy
Agriculture
Agriculture
Safety
Safety
Rural
Rural
Education
Education
Transport
Transport
Healthcare
Healthcare
Unemployment
Unemployment
Innovation Hub

OUR OBJECTIVE

Future Proofing Africa using Technology

  • The EPF TECH FUND is a privately managed Venture Capital Company. The investors fund companies that are committed to innovating Africa by investing in youth led technology solutions that are scalable across the continent.
  • We are aligned with the Empire Partner Foundation’s strategy to solve the 10 key public sector challenges using Tech Solutions. With the focus on growing South African and African businesses by transforming local, global economies and communities while unlocking unique high growth investment opportunities.
  • The EPF TECH FUND is a level 1 B-BBEE Black-Owned Fund manager.

Our Impact Covers the Entire Africa

Impact Index

A look at the widespread impact of our Tech Fund.

Tech Hubs

3

Tech Hubs Created in South Africa.

Tech Investments

23+

Tech investments in Africa.

Industries

10+

We have impacted over 10 industries.

Opportunities

150+

Over 150 SMME companies created.

Job Impact

1000+

Targeted job creation opportunities.

Job Creation

750+

Actual jobs created to date.

Tech Enterprises

50+

Creating graduate tech enterprises.

Challenges

10

Addressing Public sector challenges.

Proven Liquidity

R114 Million realized value delivered in 2023 strategic exits.

The EPF Tech Fund invests in early-stage, high-growth businesses solving sector challenges through technology."

Join our journey

Locations

Cape Town (HQ) & Johannesburg

Our Track Record

Leading South African firm scaling start-ups across the continent.

Testimonials

Words from the
Frontline

"We have received a lot of support from the EPF Tech Fund since 2019. Working with this fund has so far been the most transformative and exciting journey. The EPF Tech Fund have helped us scale our business and capabilities, onboard more customers, and secure strategic partnerships with giant Telcos and Banks to which our growth has been a testament. We look forward to working with the EPF Tech Fund team in the coming years"

"Deployed over 100,000 POS terminals."

Christo Van Der Merwe
CEO, Paypoint

"The EPF Tech Fund has been a key investor since 2017, and its commercial experience has been incredibly valuable to our company in funding and scalability as well as business advisory. The fund has assisted Visiosoft to develop and scale our IoT business in 4 years. The EPF Tech Fund is a long term, active investor and has also secured strategic partnerships with international players. I am glad to have them next to us as a partner and investor."

"Scaled to 150,000 devices in 23 countries."

Johan Dirker
CEO, Visiosoft

"The EPF Tech Fund invested in Smartview in 2018 when the business had limited commercial traction with an idea of visualising IoT data. Today Smartview has dynamic, API ready platform integrated with over 20 IoT devices and is agnostic to any network protocol device. We are grateful to the EPF Tech Fund's startegic involvement and giving us the freedom to build the business to what it is today, and being able to call on their professional experience and capital when required. Thank you to the EPF Tech Fund for helping us grow and continuing to walk this journey with us."

"2,500 clients & 28 completed projects."

Keenan George
CEO, Smartview Technologies
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Community

The EPF Tech Fund Family

EPF
Empire Partner Foundation

We're not just imagining a better Africa, we're building it. EPF develops practical technology and invests in talent to tackle urgent societal challenges.

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Tech Hub
AI Campus

As a high-growth investable asset within the EPF Tech Fund portfolio, AI Campus provides a suite of cutting-edge AI solutions designed to digitize workflows and automate operations.

Visit Website