What do you do when you suddenly come into a lot of money—or, well, more money than you need?
You spend it all and party like it’s ‘99. You start a new fund.
LLH Capital, a South African private equity (PE) firm led by Romeo Kumalo, Basetsana Kumalo, and Gil Oved, told Bloomberg that it made a “profitable exit” from Optasia, the AI-powered lending fintech, which listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on November 4.
LLH Capital was one of the earliest Optasia backers. While the PE firm did not disclose the amount it made from selling a “significant portion” of its Optasia shares, it seems the firm became profitable enough to start raising a R3.5 billion ($200 million) fund to back more undiscovered gems like Optasia.
State of play: LLH Capital was founded in 2019, and for years, Kumalo and Oved—serial investors and “sharks” from early seasons of the TV show Shark Tank—have been teasing a $200 million fund. Media reports at the time suggested that the duo was expecting an IPO exit to raise between $200–$300 million. While they’ve both declined to say how much they made from the Optasia sale, it’s likely the windfall will now bankroll a new fund to back AI-powered fintechs (more Optasias, if you will) and telecom startups across Africa.
Kumalo and Oved’s other investments and exits through various funds and investment vehicles, not necessarily via LLH Capital, have included Smart Call, Ozow, Publicis Groupe Africa, Sendmarc, Flow Living, and Bottles (acquired by Pick n Pay in 2020).
With a fresh $200 million war chest and a playbook that blends telecom know-how with fintech ambition, LLH Capital looks set to keep betting on the next wave of African tech upstarts.
