# UW Ventures

> UW Ventures is a VC fund in Johannesburg backing FinTech and Payments. See 18 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Total investments: 18
- Last investment: Oct 2024
- Lead investor: 39%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uw-ventures/
- Website: https://uwventures.co/

UW Ventures is a VC fund in Johannesburg focused on FinTech and Payments. UW is a multi-stage investor that provides growth and replacement capital across the equity-cycle. Its activities span from high-growth venture to mid-market private equity opportunities.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for UW Ventures. Shizune tracks 1 team members at UW Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/umkhathi-wethu-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $456k–$2.5M |
| Series A | $1.3M–$31M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FinTech | 3 | 17% |
| Payments | 3 | 17% |
| Mobile Payments | 3 | 17% |
| Financial Services | 3 | 17% |
| Insurance | 2 | 11% |

19 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funding Round | 3 | 17% |
| Seed | 2 | 11% |
| Series A | 2 | 11% |
| Series C | 2 | 11% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 1 | 6% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Harry Apostoleris | Co-Founder | 7 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/harry-apostoleris |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pargo | Pargo is a convenient logistics solution that lets you collect and return parcels at Pargo parcel points throughout the country when it suits you best. | $4M | Venture - Series Unknown | Oct 24, 2024 |  |
| Rather.chat | Rather.chat offers a platform that facilitates meaningful connections between businesses and their customers through WhatsApp. This service is designed to make customer interactions more personal and efficient, allowing for real-time communication. By leveraging the widespread use of WhatsApp, Rather.chat aims to enhance the customer serviceexperience, making it easier for businesses to address inquiries, resolve issues, and maintain engagement with their audience. The focus is on creating a seamless bridge for dialogue that respects the convenience and preferences of the modern consumer, who increasingly favors instant messaging over traditional forms of communication. |  | Venture - Series Unknown | Jan 01, 2024 |  |
| Manholes 4 Africa | m4a (Pty) Ltd specializes in the manufacturing of composite and plastics products designed for the utilities networks industry. As an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), the company offers a comprehensive range of products including access chambers, microducts, bundled microducts (multiducts), sub ducts, corrugated pipes, axsCHAMBERS™,cnktCLOSURES™, fibreDUCT™, and fibreCABLE™. These products cater to the telecommunications sector, providing end-to-end solutions for infrastructure needs. m4a (Pty) Ltd is recognized for its innovative approach in developing polymer and composite civil infrastructure solutions. The company holds ISO9001 certification, ensuring high standards in quality management systems. |  | Private Equity | Aug 01, 2023 |  |
| Peach Payments | Peach Payments provides payment solutions to online and mobile businesses enabling them to easily accept payments from consumers across the globe and especially from those in the emerging markets. Our specific focus is on Africa and the BRIC countries where the local infrastructure requires a unique and tailored approach to online payments. | $31M | Series A | Apr 04, 2023 |  |
| Lulalend | LulaLend is more than a company. It’s a belief in the power of small business, making a difference, building a better solution and striving for excellence. We work hard to empower businesses across South Africa with the funds they need to grow, and we have a great time doing it! | $35.2M | Series B | Feb 01, 2023 |  |
| Synatic | Synatic is a modern data integration and automation platform that combines iPaaS, ESB, ETL and API Management into a simple yet powerful tool. Connect any system, whether through API (SOAP or REST), ODBC, flat file or SDK, all through drag and drop simplicity. Synatic also works with cloud, on-premise or hybrid systems. Overall, Synaticprovides a holistic integration solution that delivers value with incredible speed. With simple to use tools coupled with enterprise grade features, Synatic cuts data integration, automation and analytics time and cost by up to 80%. | $2.5M | Seed | Dec 05, 2022 |  |
| Elevate | Elevate develops an app-based life insurance platform helping users proactively manage their data and well-being. |  | Venture - Series Unknown | Jan 01, 2022 |  |
| FirstBet | FirstBet revolutionizes and refreshes the gambling and betting industry and provides an exciting, trustworthy and fun platform to customers. |  | Private Equity | Jan 01, 2022 |  |
| MFS Africa | MFS Africa is the largest mobile money inter-operability hub in Africa, which connects mobile network operators across the continent through a single API. In addition to mobile remittance services, the MFS Africa API enables merchant payment, bulk payment, bank-to-wallet transfers, and an array of other cross border digital payments services. |  | Series C | Nov 10, 2021 |  |
| onafriq | MFS Africa is the largest mobile money inter-operability hub in Africa, which connects mobile network operators across the continent through a single API. In addition to mobile remittance services, the MFS Africa API enables merchant payment, bulk payment, bank-to-wallet transfers, and an array of other cross border digital payments services. | $70M | Series C | Nov 10, 2021 |  |

10 of 18 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Allan Gray](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/allan-gray-6e30) — VC Fund, 9 deals together
- [E Squared Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/e-squared-investments) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Goodwell Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/goodwell-investments) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Endeavor South Africa](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/endeavor-south-africa) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Fireball Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fireball-capital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Launch Africa](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/launch-africa) — VC Fund, 3 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does UW Ventures invest in?

UW Ventures invests primarily in FinTech, Payments and Mobile Payments startups, most often at Funding Round and Seed stage. Most of the 18 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in South Africa. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is UW Ventures's check size?

UW Ventures typically joins rounds of $456k–$2.5M at Seed and $1.3M–$31M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds UW Ventures participates in.

### How do I contact UW Ventures?

Public channels for UW Ventures include LinkedIn 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 UW Ventures?

The team at UW Ventures includes Harry Apostoleris (Co-Founder). 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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