South Africa’s E Squared Investments says it deployed over R300M into local startups in 2025, taking lifetime capital deployed to R1.37B.
E Squared Investments, a South African impact investor, says it put more than R300 million into startups in 2025. Impact investing means backing businesses with both financial returns and measurable social outcomes.
E Squared says it is backed by Allan Gray and funds its investing activity partly through dividends from a stake of just under 18% in Allan Gray Proprietary. Dividends are profit payouts from an ownership stake.
The firm’s 2025 deployment was split across stages and themes. It reported R160 million for high-growth and scalable ventures, R32 million in pre-seed (very early funding, often before a product is fully built), R10 million for seed to Series A+ (early to growth-stage rounds), and R36 million for social enterprises.
E Squared also highlighted where the money went demographically. It said 92% went to black beneficiaries and 62% supported black-women-owned businesses.
Its portfolio spans areas like agritech, data integration, and financial literacy. Named investments include Khula and SwiftVEE in agriculture, plus Synatic and Fintr.
On performance, E Squared reported R137 million in realised investment returns. It said R31 million of that was generated in 2025 through partial exits. It also said its venture portfolio fair market value rose 16% year on year to R987 million, which it framed as a 44% return on capital.
Local venture funding in South Africa has been uneven, and many founders report longer fundraising cycles and tighter terms. E Squared CEO Gladwyn Leeuw pointed to scarce capital and limited margin for error, arguing that patient, long-term support matters more in this environment.
The numbers also help set context for the broader market. SAVCA data cited in the report put South Africa’s VC deployment at R3.29 billion in 2024, with most funding going into technology and health businesses. If E Squared’s pace holds, it remains a meaningful source of local capital, especially for early-stage and impact-focused deals.
Primary Source: Techinafrica
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