Kalon's Clive Butkow on the state of the VC nation

Loading player...
Clive Butkow is one of South Africa’s leading experts on venture capital investment in technology start-ups.
The founder and CEO of Kalon Venture Partners joins Duncan McLeod on the TechCentral Show (TCS) to chat about why the VC investment business has changed radically, especially since the world, led by the US Federal Reserve, started hiking interest rates last year to tame inflation.
Monetary tightening has meant the end of “easy money” and the need by start-ups to focus not on where their next funding round is coming from – it might not even happen in this environment, Butkow says – to managing cash flows and ensuring financial sustainability.
He provides advice to entrepreneurs as to what they should be doing differently to survive the current economic headwinds. For those wanting to start their own ventures, but who haven’t yet done so, he provides insight into the key issues they should be considering before setting out. Also, what are the biggest mistakes start-ups make? Butkow unpacks the key ones in this discussion.
Butkow, a former chief operating officer of Accenture South Africa, quit his day job 10 years ago to found Kalon Venture Partners, which has made several highly successful investments in South African tech start-ups over the years. Kalon’s new fund is now looking at investments elsewhere on the continent, too, seeking to take advantage of growth in the start-up ecosystems in countries such as Kenya and Nigeria.
In this episode of TCS, Butkow talks about the South African Revenue Service’s Section 12J incentive scheme, which drove investments in a large number of start-ups but which has now come to an end. He reflects on the impact that Section 12J had, and what else Sars – and government – could be doing to stimulate start-ups and small businesses.
Don’t miss a fascinating interview!
4 Apr 2023 7AM English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

Piet le Roux on Sakeliga's fight with Icasa over BEE

Business group Sakeliga is taking Icasa to court over the 30% ownership rule for telecoms licensees, and its CEO, Piet le Roux, says the regulator has "clearly misunderstood" the law. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Le Roux tells Duncan McLeod why Sakeliga has asked the high court in…
13 Nov 7AM 19 min

Pick n Pay fights back in online grocery wars

Pick n Pay will keep Smart Shopper Pro, its new paid loyalty tier, at its R99/month launch price "for a very extended period", says Vince Viviers, executive: innovation and digital transformation at the retailer. If the price does change, customers will be told well in advance, "so that there are…
11 Nov 7AM 27 min

Nomvuyiso Batyi on the battle over Sim registration

South Africa’s mobile operators want tougher Sim registration, but not on the terms communications regulator Icasa has proposed. Draft amendments to Icasa’s numbering plan regulations, published for comment last month, would require a fingerprint or face check against home affairs records for every new Sim, reactivation and Sim swap. Subscribers…
9 Nov 7AM 33 min

The Cape Town firm quietly connecting Eskom, Pep and 6 000 ATMs

Réan van Niekerk Metacom has spent 25 years designing its own routers and running private networks for some of Africa's biggest retailers, without a cent of venture capital. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, founder Réan van Niekerk tells Fanie van Rooyen how the Cape Town company came to…
23 Oct 5AM 36 min

Drones, AI and the future of warfare, with Milkor's Daniel du Plessis

Milkor's 380 drone is flying for a customer in the Middle East, but South Africa's own defence force has yet to buy one. In this episode of The TechCentral Show (TCS), Milkor vice-president for Africa Daniel du Plessis talks to deputy editor Fanie van Rooyen about why, and about where…
13 Oct 3AM 39 min