SOUTH AFRICA – The Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC), a 100% Black-owned Investment Company established in 1995 by the Mineworkers Investment Trust (MIT), intends to invest R150 million (US$9 million) in new black-owned enterprises.
The MIC has opened the second window of applications for its venture capital initiative, MIC Khulisani Ventures, to support what it calls high growth potential and innovative businesses.
It is providing this financial assistance because it wants to support businesses that have already received seed funding (and are primarily black-owned) but are “not plugged into the dominant streams of venture capital networks.”
It says many of these businesses are “investment-ready,” and have ideas that can shift industries and society. But they do not get the boost they need at a key point in their development because of a lack of institutional support.
In May 2022, it announced an R23.5 million (US$1.40m) investment in Kelo Africa, an interactive digital bookstore and e-library. It had also invested R20 million (US$1.19m) in Rentoza, a subscription-based online electronics and appliances retailer.
MIC Khulisani Ventures will now offer up to R30 million (US$1.79m) in prize money to successful applicants. Except for primary agriculture and primary extractive industries, all sectors will be considered.
The MIC wants to be more transformative in the following application window.
“While the criteria for application do not change significantly this year, we are purposefully focusing on black female-owned or led businesses,” said MIC CEO Mary Bomela.
The MIC is open to supporting what it refers to as relatively young businesses in addition to supporting black women.
In terms of where the demand for that kind of investment was relative to our ambitions, Bomela says, “We quickly learned that the field is slightly less developed than what we had initially envisaged.”
“Incidentally, this still gives us opportunity to diversify and reach as many businesses as possible especially those that are disruptors of market and show immense potential for scalability,” she adds.
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