 |
|
 |
Current deals
Some of the current deals requiring financing are listed below:
Cable ducting system
Reference 46
Cape Town
Investment required: R10m
(can be syndicated into smaller amounts)
The team has developed a radical new way of protecting cables. Instead of conventional PVC piping, this system is modular, quicker and cheaper to install, easier to repair, cheaper to transport and it eliminates cable theft. It can be used both below and above ground for installations such as copper and fibre optic cables in telecommunications, signalling cables in rail networks, airport lighting cables, electrical cables, mines services, etc. It can be used to retrofit existing cables.
International patents have been applied for and first sales have been made to customers in South Africa. Most of the markets for the product are booming at present.
The core management team comprises a highly qualified CA and an engineer.
An investment of R10m will secure a 25%+1 stake in this international opportunity. A BEE investor is preferred, but not essential.
Sub-sea cargo recovery project (copper ingots)
Reference 47
Sweden/Mozambique
Investment required: USD2m (about R15m)
(can be syndicated into smaller amounts)
In conjunction with the world's leading salvage company, a small Swedish company has spent USD2m developing a 15-ton robot for use in marine salvage operations. The robot has been used in 2 salvage operations thus far.
The company has been awarded an exclusive contract to salvage 3500 tons of copper from a sunken ship close to Maputo. The operating costs of conducting the salvage operations are about USD2m.
An investment of USD2m will entitle an investor to a 35% stake in the company (or a new company established for the purposes of recovery projects only, if preferred). The investor's expected share after a few months of work is USD6m. The investor will then retain a 35% stake in subsequent salvage projects. The company believes that there are another 50 sites with 127 000 tons of copper potentially accessible. At the current copper price of USD8000, this translates into a potential recovery of USD1bn.
Japanese electricity-saving device
Reference 44
Cape Town
Investment required: R3.5m
(can be syndicated into smaller amounts)
A start-up company has secured the SA rights to an electricity-saving device manufactured in Japan. This device is already in use by over 300 000 users around the world. Expectations are that companies in SA will save between 10-15% in peak electricity demand as well as reduce maintenance costs, amongst other benefits. The basic payback period for the user is around 2-4 years depending on the electricity price and the R-Yen exchange rate (the device itself is guaranteed for 10 years). There are products for both residential customers and industrial/commercial customers. The device is particularly effective for lighting and is currently in tests in SA with a number of pilot sites. The first order has been secured from a major food retailer.
This device actually reduces electricity demand so it has huge application in an environment where usage over a certain limit will trigger onerous penalties.
The management team is top-class, having a total of 85 years of experience.
The funding being sought is R3.5m, for which a 20% stake is on offer plus repayment of the loan, bearing interest at 10%.
Long-range Bluetooth mobile communications
Reference 42
Johannesburg
Sale or licensing
The client is currently able to demonstrate that 2 mobile phones can communicate with each other using only Bluetooth (i.e. not using a cellular signal provided by the networks) via an aerial over a distance of up to 1.5km. (Conventionally Bluetooth is purely a very short-range radio protocol.) The system comprises the company's own 100m high aerial together with a server and mobile phones running proprietary software.
With the addition of a simple booster unit (commercially available), the team believes that a radius of 3km from each aerial should be achievable, depending on the topography (e.g. buildings, glass, mountains), and additionally, that multiple phones could connect simultaneously.
The implication of this technology - should it be proven - is, that provided a network of aerials is established, cellphones equipped only with Bluetooth and the software could communicate with each other for free, bypassing the mobile networks. There are any number of business models that can flow from this: sell the phone at a profit but offer free calls forever, offer free phones with a nominal charge per month, provide sponsored phones and/or usage etc.
Setting up an aerial network is not a trivial exercise so first prize is to piggy-back on an existing aerial network.
This system is a very attractive business proposition to any company that has an aerial network and is not already in the voice/data communications space.
The technology is offered for sale or licensing.
Distributor of luxury hotel guest amenities
Reference 43
Durban
Investment required: R300,000
The client is an established small business that is the southern African distributor for one of the world's major suppliers of luxury hotel guest amenities (soaps etc.). Recently the founder's two sons have acquired a stake in the business and, together with the founder, have increased the focus on expansion, with dramatic results. The business needs a modest injection of working capital to enable it to fully capitalise on the many opportunities that are becoming available.
A R300k investment will secure a 20% equity stake.
Bus ticketing & management system
Reference 32
Johannesburg
Investment required: R5m
(can be syndicated into smaller amounts)
The product comprises a ticket machine which is installed in a bus, with a back end server at the depot running custom designed software that allows management to monitor and control the bus via wireless real-time communication. Other components of the system (installed on the bus) include a video surveillance recording unit, an automated passenger counting unit, a route signage display controller, and an engine management module. The system already exists and is fully functional, although "“productisation"” is taking place to make the system even easier to manufacture. The team recently won their category in the national Enablis business plan competition.
The system solves almost all the serious problems plaguing the various role players in the South African transport industry and has been developed in full consultation with a number of provincial transport departments and bus operators. Encouraging small-scale pilot projects are underway.
In response to the 2010 imperative, the South African government is urgently seeking ways to improve public transport. Only this system enables bus operators to attain the new transport standards that are soon to be implemented.
Although the system was developed in response to the requirements of the South African transport environment (especially endemic driver fraud) it has since evolved to represent possibly the best system of its kind in the world, having tremendous export potential to both First and Third world countries. It has been under development for 3 years.
The current management team and owners comprise a successful young entrepreneur with a marketing background and a technically gifted IT consultant (PDI).
An investor is being sought to provide R5m in funding, for which a 25.1% stake in the company is being offered. The funding will be used to increase the size of the 2 pilot projects and to fund the initial rollout expected in late 2007.
New invention: clothes dryer
Reference 34
Cape Town
Investment required: R30,000 - R1m
(can be syndicated into smaller amounts)
A serial inventor has designed a clothes dryer that theoretically can dry laundry in a fraction of the time of conventional dryers. This dryer may also use less electricity and be less harsh on fabrics than conventional dryers. Should the invention work as expected, the international market potential is enormous.
The new clothes dryer design uses well-established physics principles and the inventor is convinced that it will work. The inventor has produced numerous past inventions but does not have the funds available to build a prototype of this latest design.
Funding is required to build a prototype, patent the invention, and then license or sell to an international company. A 25% stake in the company will be offered for an initial investment of R130,000, but only R30,000 is required upfront in order to build the invention and receive initial patent advice. Further funding (up to R900 000, but probably less) may be required if the design proves successful and can be patented internationally.
|
|
|
|
