Botswana Tech Fund Research
Investment Thesis
Botswana Tech Fund (BTF) is a multi-stage venture capital fund investing in technology and tech-enabled businesses across Southern Africa. Its stated thesis is to back the innovators of tomorrow while accelerating the expansion of businesses already digitizing Africa. Managing Partner Martin Davis argues that digital infrastructure in the region has matured, but scalable application-layer solutions remain dramatically under-served, and that there is a generational opportunity to back founders building the digital economy before valuations and competition reset upward. The portfolio page describes the focus as the software layer of Africa's digital infrastructure.
Stage Focus
BTF runs a dual strategy:
- Accelerator (pre-seed): for companies based in Southern Africa that have found their first 100 customers. The programme covers strategic refinement, go-to-market, investor readiness, product workshopping and financial structuring.
- Scale (growth): Seed through Series C, primary and secondary investments, for revenue-generating companies based in or expanding to Southern Africa. BTF opens doors to enterprise customers across Southern Africa and prepares companies for Series B and beyond.
Check Size
Pre-seed cheques are GBP 25K to 100K for about 10% ownership per cohort company. Growth investments are GBP 500K to GBP 2M per deal. At current exchange rates that is roughly USD 33K to USD 135K at pre-seed and USD 670K to USD 2.7M at growth stage.
Lead Tendency
The fund writes primary and secondary cheques and is open to co-investment per its FAQ headings. The sources reviewed do not say whether it leads rounds, so lead tendency is recorded as unknown.
Recent Activity
- April 2026: BTF launched as a targeted GBP 50M (about USD 64M) multi-stage fund. The announcement was dated Gaborone, 21 April 2026.
- July 2026: BTF 1 reached a first close of about USD 6.7M (GBP 5M). It is anchored by Pula Investments, the family office of Stephen Lansdown CBE (founder of Hargreaves Lansdown), and is powered by Launch Africa Ventures. Other named supporters are HFL (Guernsey), Thema, Zachariah George and Janade Du Plessis.
- Phase 1 plans an initial deployment of about USD 6.4M, with roughly USD 1.3M reserved for pre-seed founders, per press coverage.
- The fund is early in deployment and the portfolio is small.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists seven companies, all early:
- Areye Technologies: ride-hailing, delivery and quick commerce for Southern Africa
- Botsogo Jwame: connected health records that follow the patient
- Ipachi Capital: making informal businesses financially visible
- Slash: deals and clearance in one app, replacing the printed flyer
- Koloso: a teaching support system for children
- Moovha: a WhatsApp-native USD and Rand wallet for cash-first users
- PatientCare: prepaid healthcare connecting families, employers and providers
No exits are reported yet, as the fund launched in 2026.
Team
- Martin Davis, Managing Partner: former CEO of FTSE 250 listed Molten Ventures (GBP 2bn NAV; Revolut, Trustpilot, Ledger, UiPath), previously CEO of Kames Capital and Aegon Asset Management, chairs Bethnal Green Ventures, GP and founder of EDT Ventures.
- Florence Bavanandan, General Partner: London-based, runs the fund day to day; previously Head of Platform and Operations at Launch Africa Ventures.
- Uwemedimo Uwemakpan, Head of Investments: a decade in the African startup ecosystem.
- Kartik Sharma, Head of Exits: portfolio management and liquidity generation.
- Nicolette Chinomona, Botswana Country Manager: founder support programmes, ex Techstars and Stanbic Bank Botswana.
- Kamo Motaung, Investment Associate: Johannesburg-based, ex Hlayisani Capital and Valeo Capital.
- Jeffery Akemu, Portfolio Associate: Lagos-based, ex African Business Angel Network.
- Advisors: Janade Du Plessis and Zachariah George, both of Launch Africa Ventures.
Decision Process
Co-GPs Martin Davis and Florence Bavanandan lead the fund, with a Head of Investments running deal flow. Applications come through a founder registration form. The fund is operated by Botswana Tech Ltd, an Appointed Representative of Thema Capital Limited (FCA regulated). The exact committee process is not published.
Founder Preferences
Technology companies with early traction (first 100 customers at pre-seed, revenue at growth stage), based in or expanding to Southern Africa. Founders get 1:1 coaching, office hours, peer learning, mentoring and a partner network with about USD 1.5M of credits, plus access to the Launch Africa network.
Geographic Focus
Southern Africa, with Botswana as the operational hub (a top five African country on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, about 80% internet penetration, home of the SADC Secretariat). A portion of returns is committed to the Tuli Conservation Trust.