- 33 Fricker Road, 2nd Floor, Illovo
- +27 11 772 7945
- info@idf.co.za
For The Investor
IDF Capital is an established financier, investing in high growth SMEs/Entrepreneurial businesses. We invest with a gender lens strategy, backing innovative businesses that yield both commercial and social returns. As an enabler for economic development and social impact, and a trusted financial intermediary, our track record positions us as an investment partner of choice. Since 2008, we have managed funds with high social returns for both institutional investors and corporates’ Enterprise and Supplier Development initiatives. We consider ourselves as “Value Catalysts”, and we
intentionally drive value creation for both our investors and our portfolio. Our portfolio is spread across various sectors, and we understand industry-specific key success factors that drive business growth. Our value creation methodology positively influences growth of entrepreneurial businesses
through strategic interventions such as go-to-market strategies, revenue optimisation and cost efficiencies. Our performance track record is a testament of our strategic intent to build, grow, and sustain entrepreneurial business.
We are further expanding our reach for capital to international and local Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Family Offices, Pension Funds and other Venture Capitalists with fund of funds mandates. We are currently fundraising for two asset classes, IDF Innovation Fund, a venture capital
fund and IDF Finance debt facility as outlined below:
Improved business trading policies, increasing urbanization, a larger and more educated workforce, and rising consumer spending, make Africa one of the most vibrant, new frontier market economies in the world. IDF Capital is tapping into this market through its tailored financial services offering for African entrepreneurs. In 2015, IDF Capital jointly established a Sub-Saharan Africa SME PE Fund called Alitheia IDF in collaboration with Alitheia Capital of Lagos, Nigeria.
AIF invests in high performing diverse teams to achieve superior returns by leveraging the gender effect. Studies (by Harvard and Mckinsey) have shown that gender diverse teams are more inclusive, intuitive and conscious than their peers. This means that these businesses are more in tune with their markets, their employees and their stakeholders. They have the ability to bring in new ideas to solve problems, and develop the relationships to ensure success for the business, empower more people to be successful within the organization and with their
customers. With this insight, the AIF team is leveraging its combined experience of over 60 years and its extensive network to access a proprietary pipeline of gender-diverse businesses that leverage key leadership characteristics to achieve superior returns in sub-Saharan Africa. Building on the strong momentum from current funds in South Africa and Nigeria, AIF’s $100M Fund will continue to invest in and support high growth small and medium enterprises (SMEs) led by gender diverse teams and poised to scale.
AIF has a strong pipeline of potential investees that offer:
capital appreciation through predictable growth and scaling; can become attractive trade sale targets (primary exit route) or secondary buy-out candidates; and have demonstrated strong cash generation, EBIT growth, corporate governance and operating standards.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the fastest growing middle class in the world. This has increased the need for industrialisation, infrastructure development and urbanisation in the region and created opportunities for innovative businesses. The IDF Innovation Fund (IIF) is a Venture Capital vehicle currently raising funds to invest in innovative enterprises in Africa. In collaboration with the relevant ecosystem players, IDF Innovation Fund seeks to address the common challenges faced by innovative businesses, namely limited access to capital, market opportunities and lack of skills. The Fund will invest capital to drive growth through a proactive Gender Lens Investing (GLI) strategy and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies, targeting both social and financial returns. The Fund’s main impact pillars are inclusive economy, value creation, sustainable ventures and social outcomes. The investment team is comprised of experienced professionals with relevant industry experience, a strong track record of deal sourcing, transaction advisory services and post- investment support. The team is highly skilled in deal structuring across debt, venture capital and equity transactions as well as driving successful exits.
The working capital challenge is widely inherent in SMEs. They require working capital funding for growth, profitability, and sustainability. SMEs are riskier and less profitable than larger entreprises and they usually hit a brick wall when seeking working capital financing. In the past, many SME businesses offered concessions or discounts as incentives to secure immediate payment. However, in today’s competitive business environment most customers expect an extended timeline for payment. However, by extending payment terms, working capital is diminished, negatively impacting the business growth. This necessitated IDF Capital to explore innovative ways to circumvent the challenges and mitigate risks that are associated with funding SMEs for working capital. Invoice discounting and purchase order funding are appropriate and effective solutions to the challenge highlighted above. IDF Capital is leveraging its more than 15 years' experience of investing and creating value in SMEs by raising a debt fund to meet the growing demand for working capital for SMEs, through the debt funding arm, IDF Finance. Our de-risked finance model, highly mitigates payment default and purchase order execution risk whilst generating sustainable returns
Our Investors
