# Knife Capital

Knife Capital is a Private Equity based in Cape Town, South Africa.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Cape Town, South Africa
- **Region:** Africa
- **Address:** Cape Town, South Africa
- **Founded:** 2010
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.knifecap.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/knifecap

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Knife Capital is a venture capital investment manager that accelerates the international expansion of African innovation-driven businesses by leveraging Knowledge, Networks and Funding. It finds and invests in companies that show the potential for international success with a deep technological competence. The firm was established in 2010 and manages funds including Knife Fund III.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- FinTech
- Digital Health
- AgriTech & FoodTech

## Offices

- London, United Kingdom

## People

- Keet van Zyl — Co-Founder and Partner
- Andrea Böhmert — Partner

## Questions

### Who leads investment decisions at Knife Capital?

Keet van Zyl and Andrea Böhmert are the named partners leading deal sourcing, diligence, and portfolio management at Knife Capital. Both co-founded the firm in 2010 after spinning out the venture and growth practice from Mark Shuttleworth's HBD Group. The investment committee operates as a partnership, with major decisions made jointly by the senior team in Cape Town.

### What is Knife Capital's Grindstone accelerator, and how does it relate to the fund?

Grindstone is a growth accelerator owned and operated by Knife Capital, offering structured strategic support to start-ups and scale-ups. It functions as a proprietary deal-sourcing and company-building engine, giving the fund early and deep access to founders before they enter the broader fundraising market. While legally separate from the main fund entities, it shares the same investment team and feeds directly into Knife Capital's pipeline.

### How does Knife Capital structure its funds to manage South African currency risk?

Knife Capital denominates its venture funds in US dollars, which is unusual among South Africa-based VC managers. This structure protects fund economics from the rand's historical depreciation and aligns the denomination with the international LP commitments — including IFC and European family offices — that back the firm. It also gives portfolio companies hard-currency capital to pay for offshore infrastructure and talent.

### Does Knife Capital invest outside South Africa?

While Cape Town and Johannesburg are its core deal-flow hubs, Knife Capital evaluates opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa where it identifies scalable B2B technology businesses. The firm's mandate is pan-African, though the concentration of its portfolio has historically favored South Africa, the continent's largest and most liquid technology market, alongside select investments in other English-speaking African markets.

## Related profiles

- [Knetvc](https://altss.com/profile/knetvc)
- [Knight's Bridge Capital Partners](https://altss.com/profile/knight-s-bridge-capital-partners)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:07:12.582Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/knife-capital

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology