Unlock Your Business Potential with Tailored Funding Solutions.
Welcome to Creative Growth Capital, your gateway to accessible funding solutions specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with big aspirations. Our mission is to empower SMEs, unlocking their true potential and accelerating their journey towards unprecedented success. Explore how we can partner with your business.
“The market's neglect of SMEs has created a glaring void in the business landscape, depriving them of essential growth opportunities. Creative Growth Capital fearlessly tackles this issue head-on by providing tailor-made deal structures, flexible funding solutions, and invaluable professional partnerships. We are committed to bridging the capital gap for SMEs in Southern Africa, fueling their entrepreneurial dreams, driving positive social impact, and empowering them to achieve limitless success.”
— Creative Growth Capital
Our Solution
We believe in the potential of SMEs to transform our economy and communities. Hence, we decided to create a solution that caters to their unique needs.
We have been working with SMEs for over a decade, and during this journey, we have supported several hundred SMEs to improve their ability to run sustainable businesses, develop a world-class offering, hire more employees and support skills transfer in their communities.
This work enabled us to build an extensive network, become a leader in the SME ecosystem, and foster relationships with founders, executives, and employees. As a result, we thoroughly understand the businesses we work with, their finances, operations, and the human capital behind them.
These businesses vary in nature, size, and industry. As a result, our professional finance and investment teams have developed a unique skill set geared towards identifying the challenges that SMEs face, addressing them, and enabling SMEs to succeed.
The Challenge
Despite being the backbone of Southern Africa's economy, SMEs often face a financial conundrum. With rigorous investment standards, traditional financial institutions tend to favour larger, well-established companies, leaving SMEs stranded in their pursuit of growth and development.
This capital gap for SMEs is a result of perceived higher risks associated with SMEs, lack of adequate security, limited business track record, lower information quality and relatively high transaction costs associated with an investment.
As a result, many high-quality SMEs cannot access the capital necessary for growth, expansion, and innovation.
This is the gap we observed and aimed to fill.
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Growth Capital
We understand that every business is unique, and so are its financial needs. Unlike traditional investors, our risk appetite is tailored to meet the needs of high-growth SMEs. Whether you need capital to expand production, open new facilities, launch innovative products, or strengthen your working capital, we offer flexible investment options ranging from debt to equity and hybrid instruments. We engineer the deal terms for each business to give them the right type of capital to support their growth.
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Partnership
Our approach is not just transactional; it's about establishing long-term partnerships. We work closely with SMEs, providing them with the guidance, expertise, and resources necessary to mitigate risks, achieve sustainable growth, and optimize investment returns. We see our relationship with our investees differently; we invest in building constructive and trustworthy partnerships.
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Impact
Our investment approach emphasises financial performance and social impact equally - we strive to address social challenges in Southern Africa. We see building businesses and upskilling entrepreneurs and employees as one of the most sustainable mechanisms with which we can inspire change.
Our Investment Criteria
While we look at a variety of factors when considering an investment, some of the key criteria we consider include:
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We look for businesses that demonstrate significant growth potential in their market.
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We're attracted to businesses that challenge the status quo and have the potential to disrupt their industry.
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We value businesses that have a dedicated, passionate, and capable team at the helm.
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We consider the business’s historical and projected financial performance.
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We prefer businesses that have a clear, positive societal impact, aligning with our mission to transform communities.
Our Investment Process
At Creative Growth Capital, we don't just invest in businesses; we invest in visions, people, and potential. Our approach to investing is about more than providing financial resources. It's about forging long-term partnerships that facilitate growth and success.
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We begin by gaining a deep understanding of your business, your market, and your growth potential. This involves reviewing your business plan, financials, and market research.
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Next, we conduct a comprehensive due diligence process. This allows us to evaluate the potential risks and returns of the investment and to understand the strategic fit with our portfolio.
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If the due diligence process is positive, we put together an investment proposal. This proposal outlines the terms and conditions of our potential investment, including the amount, the purpose, the expected return, and the exit strategy.
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Upon agreement on the investment proposal, we move to structure the deal and close the investment.
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Our engagement doesn’t end with investment. We provide ongoing strategic support to our portfolio companies, helping them achieve their goals and maximize their growth potential.
Our Story
Our journey began in 2016, born out of an observation - SMEs, despite their immense potential, often struggled to find appropriate funding to fuel their growth. Traditional banks catered primarily to established, larger enterprises, leaving SMEs with limited resources to tap into. This gave birth to Creative Growth Capital.