Participated · Equity · Apr 2024

Hewatele manufactures and distributes medical oxygen via six operational Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants across Kenya and Uganda. Founded in 2013 by a group of doctors, the company supplies hospitals and regional facilities with gaseous oxygen (GOX). It has secured a USD 20M funding package composed of debt and equity to support expansion. Hewatele will build a liquid oxygen (LOX) manufacturing facility on the outskirts of the City of Nairobi. The company also plans to expand regional distribution capacity at key strategic regions within Kenya and double its existing hospital-based production and distribution capacity using pressurized gas cylinders. The raise is intended to increase both production scale and reach within the region.

Led · Equity · Jul 2021

Mologic develops point-of-care diagnostic devices and lateral-flow tests that provide early-warning screening for COVID-19. Founded in 2003 by Mark and Paul Davis, the company targets markets and disease states where rapid, accurate point-of-need testing can improve patient care. Its work on affordable testing for neglected tropical diseases has been supported by grant funding, most significantly from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The recent transaction will transition Mologic into a social enterprise under Global Access Health to expand access to affordable medical technology through decentralized research, development, and manufacturing for the global south. Members of Global Access Health will invest at least £30 million (approximately $41 million) as part of the deal. Company leadership says the move is intended to deliver affordable diagnostics to underserved places and serve as an example for others. Mologic develops rapid diagnostic products and technology for point-of-care testing. The company is led by Chief Scientific Officer Professor Paul Davis and CEO Mark Davis. It has advanced a 10-product portfolio to pre-market evaluation, with three products receiving CE mark approval in 2016. The remaining products were slated for launch in 2017 and 2018. Mologic received a $4.8M grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funds will be used to establish CARD, a new technology centre to create rapid diagnostic test technology for detection of protein biomarkers at the point-of-care. Mologic is a Bedford, UK–based developer of point-of-care diagnostic devices aimed at enabling patients to manage their own conditions. Its product pipeline includes systems for people with long-term respiratory problems to use at home, intended to maintain better lung function through more effective medication use. The company also runs a contract research business offering commercial assay development, enzyme therapeutics and pilot manufacturing. Clients for its contract research business include blue-chip pharmaceutical companies and leading medical device manufacturers. Mologic plans a series of products to reach market-readiness over the next three years, beginning in the first half of 2016, and will both self-commercialize and partner via sales and distribution deals as appropriate. It recently raised funding to support commercialization, clinical trials and regulatory approvals.

Led · Equity · Jan 2015

Real People focuses on providing “responsible finance” through its Housing and SME lending businesses in South Africa and East Africa and on purchasing and collecting non‑performing debt portfolios via its DMC brand in South Africa. Over the past 18 months the Group closed its general purpose unsecured lending and cellular retail businesses and refocused its lending strategy exclusively on economically productive housing and SME finance. The Group implemented a significant cost reduction and rationalisation programme that reduced headcount by almost 25% and made material changes to accounting estimates for financial assets due to deteriorated collections and shifts in market practice. It recently completed an equity capital raise that improved the Group’s capital base by approximately R385 million. The capital raise was largely supported by existing shareholders together with the Soros Economic Development Fund. With capital adequacy now above the minimum levels required by its funding covenants and ongoing operations delivering profits on a monthly basis, the Group reports collections and portfolio quality as largely stable and improving and is positioned to access funding lines from developmental finance institutions to resume balance sheet growth. Real People focuses on the acquisition and management of personal credit risk and offers unsecured personal loans to fund education, home improvements and other household needs in South Africa and Sub‑Saharan Africa. The group announced a US$20 million facility provided via a Cordiant and FMO funded risk participation agreement to grow its unsecured credit book across South Africa and other African outlets. This financing represents the company’s first direct access to North American capital and is described as a vote of international confidence in its credit model. Management highlighted that ongoing access to funding is critical to maintaining the company’s growth path while upholding prudent solvency margins. Since April 2007 the group has secured new funding facilities of approximately R1 billion, which the company says supports its ability to continue expansion without compromising solvency. Real People also emphasizes its ongoing relationship with FMO, a stakeholder, as strategic support for serving previously neglected markets in Africa.