Durban-Based VC Firm Kingson Capital Expands Fund Size To USD 100 Mn With Additional Raise
Kingson Capital, a South African VC firm, has announced a revision of its fund size. The Durban-based company has raised additional capital to bring its investing platform to a USD 100 Mn effort.
Additional USD 70 Mn
Kingson Fund Two was launched February this year, and it had an initial size of USD 30 Mn. More than tripling its capital volume, moreover, shows that Kingson is ready for serious business.
According to an official statement, the expansion has been made possible by the injection of committed capital from international investors. The investors remained unnamed. However, Kingson says they are from the US-based investment platform Start Zero.
The fund’s presumably undergoing due diligence but it’s obvious the VC firm is going bigger. Not only does the expansion foreshadow larger ticket sizes for startups, but will possibly increase the number of investments made.
During the initial launch of the fund, the venture capital economy said it would invest in 30 to 50 tech startups and black-owned SMEs. If it was unsure then about how many investees, it must, notwithstanding, be now.
Kingson Capital, and its new investors, wants to help South Africa become a global innovation tech hub. By investing in high-growth assets, it will be able to marry impact, emerging technology, and innovation to enact global change.
Marquis Cabrera, co-founder, and CEO of Stat Zero said the investment in Kingson reinforces the mission to evoke change for the better on a significant scale. “It will help increase South Africa’s GDP by enabling global market access to Silicon Valley, California, and US markets and capital to grow and scale SMEs in South Africa.”
Kingson Capital As Enablers
Kingson Capital’s founder and managing director, Gavin Reardon, believes venture capital in SA is essential in helping create an entrepreneurial nation. According to him, the VC firm is delighted to be a part of the growth of venture capital in the country.
“We view our role as enablers to help connect talented founders and startup teams into the global VC ecosystem. This is also an opportunity for local investors to invest with international investors and participate in an alternative asset class with potentially outsized returns,” he said.
Kingson has tied up with Cape Town-based accelerator Akro Accelerate to select and support 10 startups. Comprising representatives from both ends, the startups are now up for a 14-day bootcamp in the United States. However, the final list of startups that will attend the bootcamp in November is yet to be decided.
In April 2019, the Trump-led American administration guaranteed USD 10 Mn to create a growth ladder for startups. The commitment was made to Kingson Capital via the US Department of the Treasury.
The VC’s general partner Ross Jenvey said Kingson is thrilled to be recognized and used as a medium to reach early-stage companies. The USD 10 Mn loan portfolio guarantee was to support the firm’s initial USD 30 Mn capital.
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