Kiaan Pillay on fintech start-up Stitch and its R1-billion funding round
Cape Town-based fintech start-up Stitch last month caught the attention of many people when it announced it was raising R1-billion (US$55-million) in a significant series-B funding round.
Co-founder and CEO Kiaan Pillay is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show, where he tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the funding round, which was led by QED Investors with participation from a range of new and existing investors.
The latest round brings Stitch’s total funding to date to nearly R2-billion, or $107-million.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Pillay unpacks:
• His background and why and how Stitch was founded;
• How well-known South African comedian Trevor Noah became one of the participating funders in the latest funding round;
• What Stitch is doing differently to other fintech and payment start-ups that has allowed to raise the quantum of funding that it has;
• The significance of Stitch’s recent acquisition of Exipay – and why it’s important for Stitch to be a player in the in-person payments market;
• Stitch’s plans in the cryptocurrency space; and
• Why the company is focused (for now) on the South African market.
Don’t miss a great discussion!
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37:50
How Covid sparked a corporate tug-of-war over Adapt IT
Shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Tiffany Dunsdon – at the time CEO of JSE-listed Adapt IT – found herself having to fend off an unwanted takeover bid from Huge Group.
Dunsdon did not feel the deal made much sense for Adapt IT – a fast-growing enterprise software services provider whose share price, like many others at the time, had been knocked lower by the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
The Huge Group approach was opportunistic, said Dunsdon.
So, instead of entertaining the approach from Huge Group, she set about engineering a very different deal: one involving Canadian-listed Constellation Software: Constellation subsidiary Volaris Group would buy out Adapt IT and delist it from the JSE.
Dunsdon, who was recently appointed as acquiring group leader at Omegro – a portfolio company within Volaris Group that houses Adapt IT – joins Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show for an update following the conclusion of the sale.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Dunsdon also discusses:
• Adapt IT’s performance since its acquisition and delisting;
• The Huge Group hostile approach and how that played out inside Adapt IT;
• The timeline of events that led to the acquisition by Volaris Group; and
• What’s next for Adapt IT and Omegro.
Don’t miss the conversation!
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38:03
From fibre to clean tech: Khudu Pitje on New GX Capital’s next chapter
New GX Capital, one of the principal investors in Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa parent CIVH, recently announced it was launching a R2.4-billion clean-tech investment fund in partnership with RMB Ventures.
To unpack the details of the new fund and why it’s being established, New GX Capital founder and CEO Khudusela Pitje joined TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod in the latest episode of the TechCentral Show for a wide-ranging conversation.
In the interview, Pitje chatted about the fund – called the Airnegize Capital Fund – and its plans to invest in renewable energy and water and gas infrastructure across Africa.
New GX Capital and RMB Ventures have described the fund as “one of the largest of its kind on the continent”.
The fund has secured R2.4-billion in initial commitments, with the companies targeting a further R1.6-billion before financial close in the coming months.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Pitje expands on:
• His career background and the formation of New GX Capital;
• The role his father, the late HM Pitje, a businessman and former mayor of Mamelodi, played in his life and career choices;
• His role in helping build Dark Fibre Africa and CIVH;
• Why he feels the decision by the competition authorities to block the acquisition by Vodacom of a 30% co-controlling stake in Maziv – a subsidiary of CIVH that houses Vumatel and DFA – was wrongheaded;
• The role New GX Capital plays today, as well as its investment philosophy;
• What led to the creation of the Airnegize Fund with RMB Ventures; and
• The role and future of black economic empowerment in South Africa.
Don’t miss a fascinating conversation!
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48:23
TCS | How South Africa's Milkor became a global player in drone innovation
A company with its headquarters in Pretoria has designed and built an advanced drone that can attain speeds of 250km/h, reach altitudes of up to 30 000ft and travel more than 4 000km before having to return to its base.
The company, Milkor, is a South African defence equipment and cybersecurity specialist that was founded all the way back in 1981.
Its newly developed Milkor 380 System unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – in essence, a giant drone – has a cruising altitude of 10 000ft, a wingspan of 18m and a maximum payload of 220kg.
The drone has a flight time of up to 35 hours and can be used for border surveillance, maritime surveillance, strategic reconnaissance and information gathering operations, among other things.
To talk about the UAV, Milkor communications director Daniel du Plessis sat down with Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show recently and shared more details about its capabilities.
Other than the Milkor 380, the interview also covers topics including:
* Milkor’s founding in the 1980s, and how the company shifted focus in the democratic era – it got its start, and may still be best known for, manufacturing the world’s first six-shot 40mm grenade launcher, which is widely used around the world;
* The company’s other products – for land, air and sea operations – as well as what’s involved in conducting advanced R&D and manufacturing in a market like South Africa;
* The people who work for Milkor, and the sort of skills the company is looking for (and how it’s finding them);
* The role of UAVs in modern warfare and defence operations; and
* Why Milkor has entered the cybersecurity space.
Don’t miss a fascinating interview!
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59:19
Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner on tech, AI and the future of banking
Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner believes technology is fundamental to the company’s success.
Kallner, an actuary who joined Discovery in its early days as a medical insurance company and who has held various senior leadership roles over the years, tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the group’s decision to launch a bank when it did. He shares how the business is doing – spoiler: it’s trending well ahead of schedule – and what comes next.
He tells the TechCentral Show about:
• How Discovery Bank is doing financially and how it’s tracking against its business plan;
• Its client base – who they are and who the bank is targeting as its clientele (the answer may surprise you);
• Why Discovery launched a bank into what was already a competitive market and what it’s doing differently to its rivals to attract people to switch;
• The learnings from Discovery Health and Discovery Vitality, and how Discovery Bank has leveraged these in its products and services;
• Discovery Bank’s technology stack, why it chose the IT solutions it did, and why it built much of its banking solution in-house;
• What’s next from Discovery Bank in terms of solutions; and
• The bank’s plans with AI – and why it believes AI could be a gamechanger.
Lastly, Kallner, a prolific reader, shares two of his favourite non-fiction books with the TechCentral audience.
Don’t miss a great discussion!
The TechCentral Show (TCS, for short) is a tech show produced by South Africa's leading technology news platform. It features interviews with newsmakers, ICT industry leaders and other interesting people.
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