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Johannesburg - While entrepreneurs are struggling to get loans from banks, venture capital (VC) players are still assessing opportunities.
"Many of the venture capital firms raised a lot of money in the good times and now they need to spend it," says David Murray of Cape Venture Partners .
According to him, many firms have shifted their focus to companies that were "post-revenue" (firms with a basic client base and product) as opposed to pre-revenue or start-up phase investments.
However, InVenFin , an innovation and technology fund aimed at early stage investments, had completed its first investment and "another three or four projects are in the pipeline", said CEO Brett Commaille. The fund was launched in 2008 by VC heavyweight Venfin.
Commaille said: "We're not holding back at the moment, but we are cautious."
He said that the credit crisis and economic slowdown had not stopped the fund looking at potential investments. However, InVenFin have to be aware of opportunities and market conditions for potential "exits" from investments as they matured.
South Africa appears to be following trends in the international market where lending is extremely tight.
"While credit is tight at the moment, guys in the US are still pumping money into some start-ups" said Commaille
Tech and energy out
While investments in technology (particularly the internet), communication and energy have been popular in South Africa over the last few years, these sectors are not standing out for the InVenFin team.
"These sectors [telecom and energy] are over-shopped at the moment," said Commaille, who felt that few industries stood out currently. He told Fin24.com that the fund was looking to finalise deals in media, transport and financial services.
Biofuels and alternative energy projects were particularly over-traded at the moment, he said.
Murray said there were many entrepreneurs who wanted to "take on" Eskom, but only a few actually came up with suitable offerings. However, his firm had seen a number of opportunities in the mobile phone space - particularly around mobile banking offerings.
While there may be cash to spend, the operating environment remains tough. "There is definitely a growing trend for turnaround situations where companies need professional management," said Murray.
- Fin24.com