Mamor Capital Ventures has reached a R300 million first close for its inaugural venture capital fund, allowing the South African investment firm to begin deploying capital into post-revenue technology businesses.

The black women-owned and managed fund manager is continuing to raise capital towards a target fund size of R550 million.

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is the fund’s anchor investor, alongside commitments from the High Impact Seed Fund of Funds, managed by the SA SME Fund, the Technology Innovation Agency and the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency. The PIC also helped mobilise additional institutional commitments to the fund.

Mamor Capital will target scalable South African businesses using technology to increase access to digital and financial services and broaden economic participation.

The first close follows more than three years of fundraising and marks the fund manager’s move into the investment phase.

“After more than three years of fundraising, reaching this first close is an important step for Mamor Capital and a strong endorsement from the institutions that have backed our strategy,” said Mamokete Ramathe, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mamor Capital.

“It gives us the capital to start investing in South African businesses that are using technology to widen economic participation, while remaining focused on delivering competitive returns for our investors,” she added.

The PIC said its commitment provides exposure to the growth of South Africa’s venture capital market while supporting its transformation objectives.

“We see significant potential in South Africa’s venture capital market and believe institutional investors can play a greater role in providing the long-term capital needed to support its development,” said Leon Smit, Acting Chief Investment Officer at the PIC.

The SA SME Fund invested through its High Impact Seed Fund of Funds, which seeks to expand the pool of specialist capital available to South African technology companies.

Ketso Gordhan, CEO of the SA SME Fund, said Mamor Capital brings additional investment capacity to the market, with a focus on companies that can increase participation in the digital economy while generating commercial value.

Mamor Capital’s investment mandate includes businesses addressing financial access, digital infrastructure and other barriers to economic participation. The firm will focus on companies that have progressed beyond the idea stage and can demonstrate commercial demand.

“We are looking for businesses that have moved beyond proving an idea and can show real commercial demand,” said Fuzlin Levy-Hassen, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Mamor Capital.

“Our investment decisions will be grounded in the strength of the business, the quality of the management team and whether our capital and experience can help the company build sustainable scale,” she added.