How has South Africa’s venture capital landscape changed from the time Mark Shuttleworth sold Thawte to Verisign, up to now?

One person who is well placed to answer this question is Keet van Zyl, co-founder and managing partner at Knife Capital. Having cut his teeth in VC at Shuttleworth’s family office, Here Be Dragons, Keet went on to found Knife Capital, which has since evolved into one of the continent’s foremost VC firms.

In this conversation, Keet chronicles his early days in VC, including Knife Capital’s early exit successes, the role Section 12J played in catalysing the country’s VC ecosystem, and the importance of the firm’s “Knowledge, Network and Fund” mantra in those early successes.

He also shares the recipe behind Knife Capital’s revered exit strategy, which has seen the firm’s portfolio companies exit to global tech companies including UberEats, Garmin and Ticketmaster.

If you are a startup founder and are looking to understand the thought process that drives a successful VC’s decision-making, this is the episode for you. If you are a VC and looking to learn from the best in the business, this is also the episode for you.

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