Secha Capital (Secha), a South African group that invests in growth-stage small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) on the continent, has announced the first close of its second fund which has raised about $15.6mn.

Techfinancials quoted a release by Secha on September 26 indicating that blue-chips - RMB Ventures, 27four Investment Managers (27four), The SA SME Fund and Caleo Capital – are among the investors.

“We are a young and diverse team. We bring operating expertise to ‘heartbeat-of-the-economy’ growth stage companies via our strategy consulting, finance and entrepreneurial backgrounds,” said Brendan Mullen, Secha’s co-founder.

“We believe that our operator-investor model will re-imagine African investing and we are proud to have the support of some the greatest investors on the continent to do so.”

Secha invests in companies across sectors in southern Africa that are making the tech-enabled transition into the green economy.

The first close of the $34mn fund enables it to deploy its unique operator-investor model.  Its second fund will follow a similar mandate and has already made four investments - iG3N, Cultura Fresh, Herbivore and FarmTrace.

RMB Ventures is a subsidiary of South Africa’s FirstRand Limited, the largest financial services group in Africa by market capitalisation. 27four is a diversified global financial services group which invests money innovatively, helps pension funds “make the right decisions” and supports small independent asset managers.

Brian Waweru of RMB Ventures said they are impressed by Secha’s growth-stage investment strategy.

Ridwaan Kajee of 27four Investment Managers commented: “Secha’s operator-investor value-add model is the first of its kind. We believe that this is an inherent organisational strength that will deliver financial and impact returns. Secha has demonstrated that the model works and is replicable and we’re proud to therefore back this team to scale the model and showcase a new approach to investing in Africa.”

Secha expects its second fund’s final close in September 2024.