FiTech Ventures
Social and financial inclusion through ethical disruption
FiTech Ventures is involved in helping innovative tech startups reach their full potential. Our investment in your business is more than just financial. When we commit to working with a client, we become partners and lend our full support behind their efforts to move their company forward.
Contact us to learn more about our investment portfolio and latest success stories.
ABOUT US
FiTech Ventures was founded after years of working in venture capital, with specific focus on fintech. Our goal is to help entrepreneurs turn their own ideas and visions into successful companies with fundraising and networking guidance. As a results-driven organization, we are constantly looking for ambitious and visionary partners with the drive and flexibility to take their company to the next level.
Our investment philosophy is driven by a focus on ethical disruption, financial inclusion, doing well by doing good and profit with a purpose. For details about our investment process as well as our level of involvement, get in touch with us.
Fitech Ventures supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and will endeavor to ensure that investee companies develop a plan to achieve certain relevant goals that will contribute to peace and prosperity for people and the planet by 2030.
Investment criteria
FiTech Ventures looks to invest between R500,000 and R2,500,000 as a seed investor in early-stage fintech startups, who are specifically focused on financial inclusion, and can demonstrate the following characteristics:
Disruptive, exponential technology
Ambitious, focused, empathetic management team
Driven by financial inclusion, social good and making a difference
UNFORTUNATELY, WE DO NOT HAVE FUNDS TO MAKE ANY NEW INVESTMENTS CURRENTLY.
Our People
Chris Lister-James
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Chris was a co-founder of Vantage Capital Group, one of the first black-owned, and one of the only remaining independent private equity and investment companies in South Africa. Chris has been involved in investment banking and private equity for over 25 years, having started his career at Real Africa Durolink, prior to co-founding Vantage Capital.
Chris has served on the boards of a number of JSE listed companies, including Fortress Income Fund and Jasco. He has also served on the boards of a number of NGO's and schools, including Junior Achievement SA, Michaelhouse Diocesan College, and Pridwin Preparatory School.
Brett Ferguson
Brett started his career in Law, and after completing his BA (LLB) at the University of Natal, he served articles for 3 years before embarking on a career as a Legal advisor at Safmarine.
Shortly thereafter Brett realized his passion for entrepreneurship in the late ’90s when he co-founded Lawyers Access Web, which provided an e-conveyancing platform for the Banks and the legal fraternity for Property ownership in SA. After the success of this platform, Brett founded the Credit division, which offered a similar model to the Banks and Retailers as well as a niche technology offering to the Unsecured Lending market.
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Ross Tasker
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Ross has a background in corporate/M&A law having previously practised at a large Pan-African corporate law firm before leaving to start an insurtech business. Prior to joining Fitech Ventures, Ross worked as a central member of the team in the Fintech programmes presented by MIT Sloane and, more recently, Oxford Said business schools. In 2018 Ross also had the opportunity to study leading methods of rethinking and applying financially inclusive business models at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Having worked with many startups and scale ups in their pursuit of growth, Ross has rich experience in the design and implementation of dynamic, innovative business models as well as the intricacies of fundraising and structuring. His interests are in responsible innovation, using the power of data and data analytics to build more efficient processes and how we should be rethinking the way consumers access goods & services.
