Newtown Partners Insights
The startup roadmap explained for the beginning entrepreneur
Starting a business can be an exciting undertaking for budding entrepreneurs. Launching the next big startup requires more effort than buying a domain name or registering the company – you must plan out every step of the journey. That's [...]
Healthtech in Africa: Technology is Not Enough
In developed markets, technology has enabled startups to utilize existing infrastructure and communal assets to disrupt traditional industries from mobility to hospitality. And many have applied this same thesis to other industries and countries, but not one size fits [...]
Decentralized Computing in AI and ML: Why Investors Can’t Afford to Ignore This Trend
"Every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it." - John McCarthy, 1956 AI, or artificial intelligence, aims to create intelligent machines [...]
Why we invested in global eCommerce logistics trailblazer Fulfillment Bridge
We recently invested in Fulfillment Bridge, a promising startup empowering online merchants to control their eCommerce logistic supply chain and scale their business cross-border. Shutterstock/Gorodenkoff End customers expect to receive their e-commerce products anytime and anywhere within [...]
Filecoin Africa Launch in Cape Town – postponed to 2023
Newtown Partners will host the Filecoin Africa Launch event, the largest gathering of the Filecoin community in Africa to date, on 15 November 2022 at Cabo in Cape Town, South Africa. The event is free to attend and invite-only, [...]
Why we invested in insurtech startup Lami
We recently invested in Lami, an insurtech startup which embeds insurance into existing digital infrastructure to increase insurance penetration across Africa. Shutterstock/ArtemisDiana Insurance market penetration remains low in Africa at less than 3% in 2019, with GWP [...]
Why we invested in vertical trucking SaaS platform BeyondTrucks
Newtown Partners via the Imperial Venture Fund has invested in the US-based trucking SaaS platform, BeyondTrucks. This undisclosed round of venture financing marks an increase in investment depth into the US trucking landscape. Shutterstock/PopTika Traditional trucking companies face [...]
Why we invested in Digital Health Platform Waspito
We recently invested in Waspito, a Cameroon-based digital health platform on a big mission to drive affordable and accessible quality healthcare across the African continent. The $2.7m oversubscribed Series Seed round of venture financing via the Imperial Venture Fund [...]
Why we invested in Pharmacy Benefits Platform – Chefaa
Newtown Partners via The Imperial Venture Fund has invested in Egypt-based pharmacy benefits platform Chefaa in an undisclosed round of venture financing, marking an expansion of its healthtech investment breadth into the MENA region. Shutterstock/LeoWolfert Chefaa is [...]
Why we invested in first mile drayage digital logistics marketplace Haulio
Newtown Partners portfolio company, Haulio, announced raising $7M in Series A equity financing. Shutterstock/Travel mania Haulio is a Singaporean asset-light managed marketplace for booking first-mile logistics and drayage services in the ASEAN region. Haulio has developed a sophisticated technology stack [...]
Why we invested in supply chain “Proof of Delivery” software provider Clockwork Logistics
Newtown Partners portfolio company, Clockwork Logistics, today announced raising $5.5m in Seed equity financing. Shutterstock/KAMONRAT Clockwork creates a single source of truth and actionable visibility into the first-mile pickup and final mile delivery, including drayage. Clockwork achieves [...]
What it takes to do corporate venture capital successfully: key learnings from the Imperial program
When large organizations set aside a pool of capital to be deployed over many years as equity investments into startups, we call this corporate venture capital or corporate VC. These programs are typically expected to generate attractive financial returns [...]
Imperial establishes innovation fund with Newtown Partners
PRESS RELEASE, Johannesburg - March 09, 2020 - Major international logistics industry player, Imperial, has partnered with venture capital firm Newtown Partners to launch a corporate venture capital (CVC) fund focused on investing in disruptive startups in the logistics industry, [...]
The History of Computer Technology
This post was a team effort, special thanks to James Kilroe & Justin Swart for their contributions. On to the post! Technology has never been as prevalent in daily life as it is today, with the trend of the [...]
Adoption of Decentralized Networks, A Mental Model
H/t to Qiao Wang from Messari whose writing on the theory of The Firm sparked this thought process. Since its inception, the internet has structurally reorganized many industries, such as the newspaper industry. The internet has empowered aggregators and [...]
Security Tokens and the path to liquidity
I believe that regulatory frameworks that adequately answer the questions posed in this article will be the catalyst to exponentially increase liquidity in the Digital Securities market. This is the single most important segment of regulation development that investors must follow.
Security Tokens: A Primer
Security Token Offerings (STOs) are a novel fundraising mechanism birthed from increased regulatory oversight on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), given that the certainty provided by regulated instruments and their associated rights is a large short-term attraction for investors, Newtown Partners believes STOs will be the preferred capital raising avenue for startups in the blockchain space within the next 12 - 18 months.
Deep learning & friends for handwritten digit prediction.
So, let's start off by imagining this scenario. You have to go to some government department to renew your licence or change your son's middle name to Hodl, they will make you complete copious amounts of complicated, burdensome paperwork to [...]