Knife Capital

Knife Capital is an independent growth equity investment firm focusing on innovation-driven ventures with proven traction. By leveraging knowledge, networks & funding, Knife accelerates the international expansion of entrepreneurial businesses that achieved a product/market fit in a beachhead market. Knife have offices in Cape Town and London. Knife invests via a consortium of funding partnerships, including SARS section 12J Venture Capital Company KNF Ventures and select family offices. Knife facilitated lucrative exits of local technology companies to the likes of General Electric, Visa, Garmin and Uber.

Andrea Böhmert

Partner

Julien Draper

Partner

Davey Gant

Partner

Eben Andries van Heerden

Co-Founder and CEO

Past deals in Sub Saharan Africa

Octiv

Series A in 2022
Octiv is a prominent platform specializing in gym management software, designed to streamline various aspects of fitness business operations. The company's software encompasses a range of features, including membership management, customer relationship management (CRM), online booking, scheduling, billing, accounting, workout tracking, and lead management. This comprehensive technology not only aids gym owners and trainers in efficiently managing their services but also enhances client engagement through a user-friendly application. By facilitating these essential functions, Octiv supports fitness professionals in their mission to promote health and wellness among their clients.

wamly

Seed Round in 2022
Wamly is the recruitment software, It has given us time back to focus on transformational work.

d6 group

Venture Round in 2021
d6 group provides a one-stop cutting-edge platform where educational institutions can manage all their operations and conduct comprehensive communication between a school, parents and learners.

Stone Three Venture Technology

Venture Round in 2021
At the time Francois was a student at the University of Stellenbosch’s digital signal processing, which Dave headed up. Together they embarked on a very demanding mission: to create the bespoke, high-end signal processing solutions required to overcome real-world engineering problems. They believe that solving only the most challenging technical feature does not necessarily provide a ‘whole product’. In order for the end-user to experience value, the technology must be packaged into a complete system that integrates seamlessly into his/her environment. Stone Three’s first project was a continuation of Francois’ Masters project – a particle size analyser using acoustic technology, developed for De Beers Diamonds. Since then, their capabilities have evolved from pure signal processing into other areas such as machine vision, software defined radio, data analytics and machine learning, all underpinned by enterprise software development skills (whole product concept). Being located in Cape Town, South Africa enables us to offer a lower cost base to their international customers, while being very competitive in an industry where cultural fit and understanding is key. Today, they employ a number of highly skilled and intuitive engineers, developers, business consultants and operational support personnel. They are the lifeblood of their company and, by extension, of their clients’ companies.

Kandua

Seed Round in 2021
Kandua is an online marketplace for home services. Kandua eliminates all types of risk associated with hiring small, independent contractors to do home renovations, maintenance, and repairs in South Africa. All communication, invoicing, and payments happen through the platform.

DataProphet

Series A in 2020
DataProphet (Pty) Ltd is a Cape Town-based company that specializes in developing machine learning solutions aimed at optimizing and controlling manufacturing processes. Founded in 2012, DataProphet serves a diverse range of industries, including finance and legal, by offering consulting and product development services. Its key products include OMNI, which predicts defects and quality errors while recommending optimal process variables to enhance yields, and Mentat, an AI-driven tool that observes and learns from interactions, automatically responding to queries and escalating unresolved issues to human agents. The company's innovative technology leverages deep learning to create significant, practical impacts on the manufacturing floor, facilitating seamless integration into existing operational environments.

Snapplify

Venture Round in 2019
Snapplify (Pty) Ltd. is a South African company that specializes in digital publishing solutions for content producers and educational institutions globally. Founded in 2011 and based in Durbanville, it offers a range of services, including a Newsstand for uploading and distributing various digital content, an e-Book Store for bulk e-Book sales, and an e-Learning Content Cloud that provides educational resources for schools and universities. Additionally, Snapplify features an e-Book Reader compatible with various devices, e-Book Aggregation for managing and distributing publisher content, and SnappBox, a hardware solution for accessing e-Books within schools. As one of Africa's largest e-Book aggregators, Snapplify collaborates with prominent publishers and has established a wide distribution network, boasting over 100,000 titles and more than 600 resellers. The company is recognized for its innovative technology, particularly the SnappBox, which has received multiple awards for enhancing e-Book distribution in educational settings.
Cradle Technology Services is an Expert advice from a team with 100's of years of experience

Pura Soda

Series A in 2019
The PURA Beverage Company (PBC) is a company based in Cape Town, South Africa, which manufactures, distributes, markets and sells “better for you” beverages. This better for you category (Evolved Refreshment) is based on global consumer, market research and trends and represents the evolution of beverages, which is rapidly changing consumer drinking habits across the globe. With low sugar and no artificial flavors or coloring, PURA Soda is a challenger brand pioneering the new category “Evolved Refreshment” – being better for you with none of the compromise of taste or refreshment.

PharmaScout

Series A in 2018
PharmaScout is a single point solution developed by 5nines Technologies, a Cape Town based Internet of Things (“IoT”) business, which overcomes a litany of hurdles faced by healthcare professionals wishing to mitigate legal risk and meet regulatory standards imposed to ensure the safety and quality of stored temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products.

Skillup Tutors

Series A in 2018
Skilluptutors.com is a marketplace of tutors for students and parents, focused initially on in-person extra lessons for primary, secondary and university students. SkillUp moved into the online tutoring space to meet an internal demand from tutors on the SkillUp Marketplace. The software used to conduct online lessons is known as the “The Lesson Space” (thelessonspace.com).

DataProphet

Series A in 2018
DataProphet (Pty) Ltd is a Cape Town-based company that specializes in developing machine learning solutions aimed at optimizing and controlling manufacturing processes. Founded in 2012, DataProphet serves a diverse range of industries, including finance and legal, by offering consulting and product development services. Its key products include OMNI, which predicts defects and quality errors while recommending optimal process variables to enhance yields, and Mentat, an AI-driven tool that observes and learns from interactions, automatically responding to queries and escalating unresolved issues to human agents. The company's innovative technology leverages deep learning to create significant, practical impacts on the manufacturing floor, facilitating seamless integration into existing operational environments.

Pura Soda

Venture Round in 2018
The PURA Beverage Company (PBC) is a company based in Cape Town, South Africa, which manufactures, distributes, markets and sells “better for you” beverages. This better for you category (Evolved Refreshment) is based on global consumer, market research and trends and represents the evolution of beverages, which is rapidly changing consumer drinking habits across the globe. With low sugar and no artificial flavors or coloring, PURA Soda is a challenger brand pioneering the new category “Evolved Refreshment” – being better for you with none of the compromise of taste or refreshment.

Quicket

Series A in 2017
Quicket is a cloud-based and self-managed ticketing solution which allows anyone to instantly start selling tickets, marketing and managing their own event within minutes. Being user-friendly and self-managed allows Quicket to cater for the countless smaller event organisers that, before Quicket, had no viable solution in South Africa and currently have no solution in Africa. Quicket also caters for larger events, integrating into the various payment solutions required for event management across Africa.

CSense Systems

Venture Round in 2008
CSense’s analytic software products and engineering solutions. This distinctive technology provides advanced capabilities to proactively identify and solve potential process problems before they impact operations.

Fundamo

Venture Round in 2007
Fundamo (Proprietary) Limited specializes in mobile financial solutions for banks, financial organizations, and mobile network operators, both in South Africa and internationally. Founded in 2000 and based in Cape Town, the company offers a range of services, including the Fundamo Enterprise Edition, a mobile financial services platform; the Fundamo Mobile Wallet, which delivers transformative financial services; and Fundamo Mobile Banking, enabling banks to provide mobile access to existing accounts. Additionally, Fundamo provides mobile remittance options, integrated payment and purchasing modules, and facilities for issuing mobile debit cards linked to the Fundamo Mobile Account. As a subsidiary of Sanlam Ltd, Fundamo focuses on enhancing financial accessibility through mobile technology.

Clicks2Customers

Series A in 2007
Clicks2Customers provides complete, performance-based search marketing solutions, with a continued dedication to providing the highest quality of service. Through constant innovations in search marketing techniques, our mission is to help our clients improve the efficiency of their Paid Search (Pay Per Click) campaigns.

Flightscope

Venture Round in 2006
FlightScope (Pty) Ltd. specializes in the development and manufacturing of 3D Doppler ball tracking monitors, golf radars, and launch monitors for various sports, including golf, cricket, tennis, and baseball. Founded in 1989 and based in Orlando, Florida, the company originally focused on measuring projectiles for the defense industry, a sector in which it remains active across more than 24 countries. FlightScope's products are utilized by golf instructors, club fitters, tour players, and original equipment manufacturers, allowing users to accurately track ball speed and distance. In addition to hardware, the company offers software applications and support services, and it sells its products online, catering to a global clientele.

Red Five Labs

Seed Round in 2005
Red Five Labs develops a technology that enables mobile apps to run on all smartphones regardless of their operating systems