London, 11 September 2023
Salt Capital is pleased to announce the signing of Salt Equity I’s first investment into Response24, a B2B SaaS platform technology company specialising in monitoring and reducing response times for emergency, security, and service driven sectors across Africa.
Founded by female African technology entrepreneur, Marlize Holtzhausen, Response24’s platform quickly achieved proof-of-value with one of the largest security companies in South Africa. On the back of this success, the firm launched its technology into Africa through a licensing agreement with a leading global security solutions company.
Marlize has achieved global recognition via a series of awards including the ‘Global Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ from Google Fest in 2014 and was named the ‘Tech Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Africa Woman Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) in the 2020 awards. Awarded by the South African ‘Department for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs’ and the ‘International Labour Organization’, along with partners and sponsors including Microsoft, Response24 has previously won first prize in the ICT category.
The Salt Capital investment will be utilised to accelerate a B2B roll-out of their platform across 41 countries in Africa as well as supporting industry-leading innovation. The disruptive and highly scalable nature of the offering also provides opportunity for Response24 to expand beyond the African continent while providing an embedded platform through which additional modules could be launched.
Reflecting on the investment Jannie Grobbelaar, Partner at Salt Capital, commented: “We are hugely excited to be working with Marlize, a truly remarkable and inspirational entrepreneur, and her passionate and talented team. The disruptive nature of Response24s technology means the business will need to be ready for the global stage in the short to medium term. Salt Capital intends working closely with the business to ensure growth remains sustainable with a focus on value creation.”
Investment in Response24 follows Salt Capital’s gender smart investment strategy. Jannie further suggested: “We see, African female entrepreneurs increasingly being supported by the African PE community, however we believe progress is slow. Salt Capital welcomes potential investment opportunities lead by female entrepreneurs, and where opportunities are outside of our investment mandate, we aim to offer guidance and alternative support wherever appropriate.”
Marlize stated: “We are very excited to be partnering with Salt Capital at this crucial point in our business. We believe our values in making a meaningful impact are aligned and my team and I look forward to accelerating the growth of the business with their support and invaluable guidance. Response24 will continue investing in innovation to ensure our direct and indirect customers remain confident in our offerings as we strive to evolve into a lifestyle and service driven AI technology business to support and enhance the everyday lives of our end users.”
Enquiries
Email: info@saltcapital.com
Notes to Editor
About Salt Capital:
Founded in 2012, Salt Capital is a private equity investment firm focused on growth capital investments in the SADC region. Salt Capital’s new fund, Salt Equity I, has a mandate to invest in SME businesses with a particular focus on consumer facing sectors. For more information, visit www.saltcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.