Ethos Private Equity
VC Fund
Johannesburg, South Africa
Ethos Private Equity is a VC fund in Johannesburg focused on Financial Services and FinTech. Founded in 1984, Ethos has been in the business of private equity for 30 years.They pioneered South African private equity, concluding the first private equity-led acquisitions in the country, and have invested in over 100 companies.Extensive local networks coupled with international reach epitomise their premier franchise.Ethos makeslong-term investments into medium-to-large businesses in South Africa and selectively in sub-Saharan Africa. These investments have consistently outperformed the stock market, delivering strong returns for their investors and stakeholders alike.Ethos is independently owned and managed by their investment professionals. As a management-driven firm, Ethos’ interests are aligned with its stakeholders.Ethos is currently investing Ethos Fund VI. At c.R7bn (US$800m) in commitments, Fund VI is one of the largest pools of third-party capital in Africa.
- Total investments:
- 9
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 44%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Ethos Private Equity invests in
Stages Ethos Private Equity invests in
Countries Ethos Private Equity invests in
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Mark Bell
|
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Walter Hirzebruch
|
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Arshad Essa
|
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Craig Dreyer
|
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Michael Jensen
|
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| See all 9 contacts → | |||
Investment Focus
Industry
- Financial Services 4 (44%)
- FinTech 3 (33%)
- Telecommunications 3 (33%)
- Banking 2 (22%)
- Credit 1 (11%)
Stage
- Private Equity 6 (67%)
- Series C 2 (22%)
- Series A 1 (11%)
Country
- South Africa 3 (33%)
- United States 2 (22%)
- United Arab Emirates 2 (22%)
- Singapore 1 (11%)
- United Kingdom 1 (11%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mark Bell
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 2 | Find email | |
|
Walter Hirzebruch
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
|
Arshad Essa
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 1 | Find email | |
|
Craig Dreyer
Partner, Chief Financial Officer
|
Partner, Chief Financial Officer | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
|
Michael Jensen
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
| See all 9 team members → | ||||
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
TymeBank
|
TymeBank is a subsidiary of the Tyme Group, which focuses on financial technology and banking solutions. TymeBank focuses on providing accessible financial services to the lower-income market. It emphasizes digital banking and minimal fees. Customers can open secure personal and business accounts online, benefiting from low banking charges and highsavings interest rates through their digital platform. | $77.8M / Series C / May 23, 2023 | |
Tyme Group
|
Tyme Group is a digital banking group that designs and operates banks for consumers and small businesses in emerging markets. The platform focuses on accessibility and affordability, serving over 15 million customers across various regions. | $77.8M / Series C / May 22, 2023 | |
Optasia
|
Optasia is a financial technology company. They develop airtime credit and mobile value-added services for mobile operators and financial institutions. They also provide financial solutions that utilize proprietary analytics tools, including micro cash loans, handset loans, credit services for pre-paid utilities, dynamic feed trends, big dataanalytics, and other related services. | $54M / Private Equity / Sep 01, 2019 | |
Eaton
|
Eaton Towers is a leading, independent, telecom tower company in Africa and will have the most diversified geographical tower portfolio in Africa.Founded in 2008 by Sanjiv Ahuja (ex CEO Orange), Alan Harper (ex Vodafone UK MD) and Terry Rhodes (ex Celtel co-founder), Eaton Towers acquires, builds and manages shared telecom infrastructure,leasing it to mobile operators. The company is focused exclusively on Africa with more than 5000 towers in 7 countries.Operational since 2010, Eaton Towers is majority owned by the sixth global emerging markets private equity fund ($3billion) of Capital Group Private Markets (www.thecapitalgroup.com/pe) and minority shareholders including a private equity fund advised by DPI (www.dpi-llp.com) and management. African mobile network operators are facing increased demand for voice services driven by price competition and for data services as more customers demand smartphones and Internet access. Network build and operating costs are significantly higher in Africa, yet revenues per customer are falling and regulators are seeking additional rural coverage and improvements in quality of service. Therefore mobile network operators are actively seeking to reduce capital and operating costs by sharing infrastructure.Eaton Towers’ customers include major African mobile operators such as Airtel, MTN, Orange, Tigo, Vodacom and Vodafone. | $350M / Private Equity / May 05, 2015 | |
Izenda
|
Izenda is an application-based intelligence provider that brings critical data insights to end-users across industries. Thanks to Izenda’s embedded BI solutions, businesses can natively integrate analytics into their applications while conserving development resources and reducing time to market. Learn more about Izenda athttps://www.izenda.com. | $3M / Series A / Aug 08, 2014 | |
IDWALA
|
Idwala is an environmentally and socially responsible company, focused on industrial minerals and lime niche markets.The company consists of a corporate Head Office based in Honeydew and two divisions comprising Lime and Industrial Minerals which are located as follows :Idwala Lime in Danielskuil, Northern CapeIdwala Lime in Powerville,VereenigingIdwala Industrial Minerals based in BenoniIdwala Magnetite based in PhalaborwaIdwala Carbonates in Port Shepstone, NatalIdwala Sales and Marketing, the marketing arm of the company has four operations- Benoni, Durban, Port Shepstone and Cape Town. | Private Equity / Jan 28, 2009 | |
SAVCIO
|
SAVCIO is a privately-owned provider of maintenance and repair services for rotating electrical equipment and transformers in Africa. | Private Equity / Mar 01, 2005 | |
Echo Service Provider
|
Echo Service Provider provides connectivity, VPN, internet, cloud, VOIP, hosting, security, consultation and hardware services. | Private Equity | |
Channel VAS
|
The premium Fintech provider of Mobile Financial Services, Airtime Credit & Airtime Advance Services, Handset Loans and Big Data Analytics | Private Equity |
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FAQ
What does Ethos Private Equity invest in?
Ethos Private Equity invests primarily in Financial Services, FinTech and Telecommunications startups, most often at Private Equity and Series C stage. Most of the 9 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in South Africa. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact Ethos Private Equity?
Public channels for Ethos Private Equity include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
Who are the partners at Ethos Private Equity?
The team at Ethos Private Equity includes Mark Bell (Partner), Walter Hirzebruch (Partner) and Arshad Essa (Partner), among 9 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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