Secha Capital takes minority stake in SA footwear company Geestep

Secha Capital, a South African impact investment manager, announced that it has agreed in invest in Geestep, a footwear company. The value of the investment remains undisclosed, but Secha Capital typically takes minority stakes in its investments, spending up to R5 million (approximately $350,000 at current exchange rates) for a 10% to 30% holding in their portfolio companies. The deal is the third for Secha Capital VCC, the firm’s 12J investment vehicle launched in partnership with Caleo Capital in May this year.

The capital will be used to help Geestep scale up to fulfill the strong demand for it products in South Africa as well as start offering its services and products and overseas. The firm provides its customers with an end-to-end design and manufacturing service, which includes trend styling, sourcing, manufacturing and advisory services. As well as these private label footwear services for retailers, the company produces its own athleisure sneaker brand, BKLYN.

“Our partnership with Secha is an exciting one, not only do they bring financial resources, but the Secha team are working with us side-by-side to grow the business,” said Jarod Grossberg, one of Geestep’s founders. “With this partnership, we were already able to reach our 12 months sales targets in 5 months and cannot wit to accelerate even more.”

Secha Capital will take a traditional board seat following the completion of a nine-month acceleration phase of day-today operational involvement for the investor. It’s likely that the board representative will be someone form the management team of an expert from Secha’s board of advisors who are best-placed to assist the business.

Brevity Law provided Secha Capital with legal advisory services for the transaction. Source: Africa Capital Digest