{"id":9134,"date":"2026-06-25T16:30:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=9134"},"modified":"2026-06-25T16:30:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:30:40","slug":"stocks-strauss-raises-r400m-for-university-technology-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=9134","title":{"rendered":"Stocks &#038; Strauss raises R400m for university technology fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"textFreeArticle\">\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">South African investment firm Stocks &amp; Strauss has completed the final close of its University Technology Fund (UTF) II at R400 million, bringing the total capital raised across its university-focused early-stage venture funds to more than R700 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">The fund is designed to support the commercialisation of globally competitive technologies, intellectual property (IP) and high-growth start-ups emerging from South Africa\u2019s tertiary institutions and their expansive alumni networks.<\/p>\n<p>Read: Why reforms to SA\u2019s technical colleges keep failing students and employers<\/p>\n<p>UTF II has attracted backing from a diverse mix of public and private capital, including the SA SME Fund, Stellenbosch University, Allan &amp; Gill Gray Philanthropies, Sanlam, Fireball Capital, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the University of Pretoria, Wits University and the University of Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Multi-tiered funding structure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The addition of the R400 million UTF II vehicle strengthens the firm\u2019s capacity to provide uninterrupted, multi-stage support to localised innovations.<\/p>\n<p>The broader S&amp;S investment platform now strategically captures corporate lifecycles across three distinct funds:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>UTF I:<\/strong> Fully deployed with R230 million, serving early foundational portfolios;<\/li>\n<li><strong>UTF Seed Fund:<\/strong> Capitalised at R86 million to anchor early start-up creation; and<\/li>\n<li><strong>UTF II:<\/strong> Capitalised at R400 million to drive early-growth and international scaling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The three-tier structure enables Stocks &amp; Strauss to back businesses from inception through to early growth, helping to bridge funding gaps that often constrain promising start-ups.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visible-sm-block visible-xs-block m1010\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-wrapper\">\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The firm focuses on companies with the potential to scale internationally from an early stage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Wayne Stocks, managing partner at Stocks &amp; Strauss, said access to specialised, long-term capital remains critical to transforming academic research into commercially successful businesses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUTF II gives us the capital base to back more companies at the point where patient, specialist funding can make the greatest difference. South Africa\u2019s tertiary institutions are producing globally relevant technologies and founders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur role is to help turn that potential into scalable companies that can compete internationally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Commercial momentum in spinoff vintages<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The strategic rationale for focusing heavily on university IP pipelines is increasingly validated by the operational performance of S&amp;S\u2019s earlier portfolio selections.<\/p>\n<p>Having initially built its early-stage deployment track record as a prominent backer of the fintech infrastructure provider Stitch, the firm\u2019s specialised UTF platform has since moved to anchor high-tech ventures like satellite systems manufacturer CubeSpace, employee-benefits platform Jem, and agricultural biotechnology company Immobazyme.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Several of these university-linked ventures are demonstrating strong international traction.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Aerospace player CubeSpace is actively expanding its global footprints within the commercial satellite systems market, while biotechnology startup Immobazyme has already achieved standalone profitability on the back of a rapidly scaling international customer base.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visible-sm-block visible-xs-block m1010\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-wrapper\">\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Simultaneously, mobile-first HR platform Jem continues to scale its operations to address deskless workforces across emerging economies.<\/p>\n<p>Read: Gibs ranks among top global executive education schools<\/p>\n<p>Simon Ellis, chief executive and co-founder of Jem, detailed the strategic value of partnering with an institutional platform tailored around corporate expansion.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cS&amp;S has been an exceptional partner to Jem. Beyond the capital, their counsel has already shaped a major decision and opened doors we\u2019d never have reached alone.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThey understand (and back) our mission to unlock the deskless workforce across emerging markets, and they share in the impact we\u2019re chasing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>With the R400 million capital pool finalised, Stocks &amp; Strauss intends to immediately intensify its deployment velocity across the South African ecosystem, deploying patient capital into scalable business models primed to export local intellectual property into international consumer markets.<\/p>\n<p>Read\/listen:<br \/>How UCT students manage investment passion with academic life<br \/>UK graduates turn to emergency degrees to ride out jobs crisis<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>#Stocks #Strauss #raises #R400m #university #technology #fund<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South African investment firm Stocks &amp; Strauss has completed the final close of its University Technology Fund (UTF) II at R400 million, bringing the total capital raised across its university-focused&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[137,11184,572,221,11183,1114,11185],"class_list":["post-9134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-fund","tag-r400m","tag-raises","tag-stocks","tag-strauss","tag-technology","tag-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}