Clive Butkow
Clive Butkow is currently the CEO of Kalon Venture Partners, a disruptive digital technology Venture Capital Fund (VCC). Butkow sits on various boards of the VCC's underlying companies, including the chairman of many of the companies. He also plays an active role as a trusted advisor to the venture capital industry in South Africa. Prior to working as the CEO of Kalon Venture Partners, Butkow also worked as a Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Accenture South Africa. During his tenure at Accenture, he played numerous leadership roles, including Managing Director of Accenture's Technology business as well as Managing Director of Accenture's Resources business.
What are some of the promising technological genres that you have identified as the future of tomorrow for venture partners?
There is a great deal of innovation across various industries in Africa today. For example, in the automotive world, there is a company called Car Scan. The company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning (a mobile camera) to take a picture of a car after it has been scratched or faces an accident. Within a couple of seconds, it automatically sends a message to the insurance company and gives an accurate estimate of how much it will cost. So something that takes about a month in South Africa to get to the panel beaters can now be done in a matter of minutes, with the same result. Car Scan gets millions and millions of artificial intelligence records of all kinds of cars every day. It can pick up most cars operating in South Africa, no matter where the car was made—in Japan, the U.S., or somewhere else.
The next significant innovation we anticipate is in the FinTech sector. To make payments or remittances traditionally required ten days. Now, however, a company named OZOW facilitates the immediate electronic transfer of funds from one bank to another without the use of a credit or debit card. Using OZOW, one can also shop on e-commerce websites and make a variety of payments (children's university fees).
"We take measures to guarantee that South African entrepreneurs have access to high-quality mentoring so that, after they have established themselves as successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, they will be able to share their knowledge with subsequent generations."
We also have a property tech company that has been rolled out in Africa and other parts of the world. This company has made it easier for millions and millions of people to rent properties. Moreover, there is the largest logistics company in Africa which makes it possible to track trucks across multiple geographies using IOT devices installed in the vehicles.
Due to the recent changes that the world has witnessed, what are some of the challenges people in South Africa are facing?
In comparison to venture capital firms situated in Silicon Valley and New York, we in South Africa haven’t raised a large amount of capital for investments. Therefore, when there has been significant downward pressure on valuations, obviously due to the uncertainty in the global economy, African venture capital is still in a terrific position and is nevertheless expanding. However, we continue to find that there is a big need for these organizations to digitize and solve problems for their company and customers, whether it's revenue or cost cutting. We don't mind growing slowly and steadily during these uncertain times with limited capital available.
What according to you are some of the beneficial traits for a leader to, of course, thrive within the current market space?
We take measures to guarantee that South African entrepreneurs have access to high-quality mentoring so that, after they have established themselves as venture capitalists, they will be able to share their knowledge with subsequent generations. We also have the playbook’s that are of tremendous assistance to the owners of these businesses as they navigate these challenging waters. However, I do not believe that we possess the abilities that we require because South Africa and Africa as a whole are losing a significant portion of their skilled labor force to dollar-based economies. Additionally, it is now possible for people to work for any firm in the world from any location in the globe. These people simply work from the comfort of their own homes and are compensated in cash by global companies.
In terms of our capabilities in Africa, we have actually reached the point where we are on the brink of crossing the gap. We certainly do not have a sufficient number of people who are knowledgeable about the metaverse and other technologies in Africa, which is one of our most significant challenges. So, it’s important we figure out how to be effective mentors and help grow more entrepreneurs in Africa
