APPLY FOR FUNDING
Knife Capital invests in companies that show the potential for international success with a deep technological competence, as well as those who:
Have a well-defined product and recurring revenues
Address a clear pain point of their customers
Address a sizeable market
Have impressive management teams
Achieve high gross margins
Have a clear governance process in place
PITCH DECK PREPARATION
Company logo & details.
If relevant add the ‘one-line pitch’ / tag-line.
Define your company’s guiding principle.
“We are in the business of…?”
Describe the current problem in the market.
What is the pain you are trying to alleviate?
How do you alleviate this pain?
Outline of your Product/ Service.
Add an Example/ Demo/ Screenshot.
What are the driving forces in the market that make this solution relevant at the moment?
Market size?
Quantify the Total Addressable Market.
Key competitor matrix.
Who else does what you do? Differentiation? – What do you do differently?
Key players in the organisation.
Short summary of credentials.
Demonstrate upward momentum and milestone achievement in some of your key business metrics.
Revenue Drivers.
How do you make money… Exactly?
Financial Projections – Summarised.
Revenue, Costs, EBITDA. (Last Year. This Year. Forecast Years 1 to 5).
What is “The Ask?”.
Outline what the funding would be used for. “Shopping List”.
Knife Capital has a broad sector approach and focuses on high-growth B2B innovative technology companies with strong IP and evident potential for global expansion. Knife’s focus includes but is not limited to the following technology sectors:
- Enterprise Technology – companies developing the software infrastructure, applications and services that drive productivity improvements, revenue enhancement, convenience or cost reduction for enterprises.
- Hardware and Deep Tech – companies developing different technologies that underpin advances in computing, manufacturing and other industries.
- Healthcare – companies leveraging digital and other technologies to create new products and services for the health and medical markets.
- Educational Technology – companies leveraging digital and other technologies to create new products and services for the educational markets.
- Financial Technology – companies developing software and other technology to better manage financial operations and processes in order to support or enable banking and financial services.
Size – Our typical investment is from $600k (ZAR10m) for Series A to $8m for Knife Fund III expansion fund with all of our funds in a position to follow on when required.
Location – We typically invest in South African companies, although we will consider Sub-Saharan Africa as well. Our Series A funds are focused on South Africa, if there is an existing off-shore structure in place then a material presence in SA is required with the majority of funding to be used in-country. Knife Fund III has a pan-African mandate with a predominant focus on South African companies.
Knife’s investment process starts with the Knife Application Form. Once the application has been completed, it ensures that the opportunity is in our system. The investment team requires all the information requested in the application form. The accuracy and full spectrum of the data is critical in ensuring a well informed and timely response. If there is initial interest and a possible mandate fit, then the Knife investment team will reach out to set up an introductory call.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A DETAILED PRINTABLE DECK
Once you have submitted an application and assuming there is a mandate fit, the Knife investment team will aim to respond within 2 weeks.