Sterling Capital Partners is a privately owned investment organisation that was established in 1988 to provide start-up capital and advisory services to South African based companies. Since inception, we have arranged funding for, invested in, and advised on transactions with an enterprise value exceeding R3 billion, both locally and internationally.
Our philosophy towards each transaction has always been to form cooperative partnerships with
individuals who have domain expertise for the project or investment sector under consideration,
and to work with those experts to maximise strategic and commercial returns. We are willing to
invest our
capital and resources in projects, where we have a high degree of control over the day to day management
of the operational entities and the overall outcomes of the project. Ensuring that our jointly agreed
goals are aligned, is critical to achieving the best outcomes.
There are many diverse views about how to manage start-up businesses, and based on our experience over the last 30 plus years, we have adopted a combination of what we believe to be the best frameworks to create value. These frameworks embrace the Lean Startup approach pioneered by Steve Blank and Al Ries, the Disruption Theory approach of the late Professor Clay Christensen and our own empirical approach to the practicalities of the market sectors in which we are investing, or providing advice.
The combination of these frameworks, together with market assessment and operational validation enables us to guide start-up entrepreneurs to achieve a Minimum Viable Product, as quickly and efficiently as possible, while simultaneously understanding the product or innovation’s ability to achieve Product Market Fit, by either creating a new market category, or repositioning an incumbent market leader. Sound fundamentals create the framework for success.
Over the years we have looked at many new businesses, technologies and even considered ideas that we simply found interesting. Our founders have been actively involved in taking four companies public, acquired going concerns and started businesses from scratch.
This experience has given us valuable insights into a diverse range of opportunities and enabled us to meet and often work with an eclectic mix of entrepreneurs and seasoned corporate executives. Where an appropriate opportunity arises, we provide input into all aspects of creating value for an organisation, including sourcing capital, acquiring, or divesting of businesses and day to day operational issues. Sometimes you need to talk to someone who has experienced and overcome challenges similar to those you are facing. If you believe we can assist, drop us an email and we will get back
to you straight away.
Our focus areas for the foreseeable future are on big data solutions, block-chain technology and climate change, as we believe these represent the biggest challenges and opportunities of our time.
Big data, and in particular the monetisation of private data are areas that are undergoing fundamental change. Currently, large multinational corporations are monetising personal data for commercial gain, leaving the rightful owners of that data out of the value chain. This needs to change. We are developing a data platform that will enable Africans from across the continent to benefit from the value created when their personal data is monetised.
The fundamental philosophy and difference with our platform, is that we will never sell personally identifiable data unless the data owner has opted-in to make their data available and only on the basis that the data owner then benefits from the commercial value generated by their data. Using blockchain technology, this is totally achievable. Data managed and owned by our platform will be used in a nonidentifiable way for commercial purposes which include market research, medical research, gaining strategic insights and enhancing the value of data for residents of the African continent. A key part of our mission will be to advocate for the rights of African data subjects.
We are developing blockchain based applications that will create value for both the investors and participants in each project that we launch. Our expertise in digital marketing, combined with our understanding of the benefits of NFT’s and blockchain based DeFi will lead to the commercialisation of innovative and scalable new products. Despite the concerns of government regulators, blockchain based technology has the ability to deliver fundamental change in many key areas of our daily lives, including in how we manage and control the ownership of multiple asset classes, such as stocks, fixed property and even personal belongings such as art. As blockchain technology is enhanced and becomes more widely deployed, so more and more people will use the technology in new, innovative and highly beneficial ways, leading to transparency, efficiency and reduced transaction costs. Blockchain based applications such as NFT’s and DeFi have the ability to create enormous value for small investors who have previously been excluded from ownership of certain asset classes such as commercial and high-end residential property. Whilst we fully support KYC and AML regulations necessary to protect individual investors, we do believe that investment in and support of these new technologies is essential to the growth of the global economy.
The solution to the Coronavirus is the combination of a vaccine and herd immunity, both of which will probably be achieved in the next three to five years. The solutions to dealing with climate change are far more complex, dramatically more expensive and less likely to be dealt with in time, because of denial and the inability to see the consequences today.
Coronavirus deaths are measured daily and infections are tracked by institutions and experts around the world. The impact is seen here and now. But while we are tracking the impact of climate change at an institutional level, we are not seeing the impact on our television screens or in our daily news feeds, so the inclination is to ignore
what we can’t see.
The Coronavirus might lead to a million deaths in a year. Eventually, climate change will lead to a million deaths a month, month after month. We are currently reviewing investment opportunities which will help improve our environment by using alien invasive vegetation to sequestrate carbon, charge rechargeable batteries and create employment in a country where tens of millions of people are out of work. We believe that the flywheel affect of solving multiple problems in one project will be enormously beneficial to our country and serve as a business model for other emerging market countries.
We are also evaluating a solution that manages livestock more efficiently. The value chain of feeding, transporting and processing livestock is one of the major contributors to climate change and the opportunities to reduce the release of methane and carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Individually we can survive by solving the problems caused by pathogens, but unless we act collectively and address the climate change challenges we are facing, by 2050, our planet will become uninhabitable for tens of millions of people.
If you feel that your view of the world is similar to ours, please do not hesitate to contact us.
info@sterling.capital
