Money raised by private capital firms in Southern Africa jumped from R8.4 billion in 2024 to R22.0 billion in 2025, according to the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA). It is the second-highest fundraising total in ten years, and South African investors supplied 55% of it, their biggest share in four years. The figures come from the SAVCA Private Capital Industry Survey 2026, prepared with EY-Parthenon and released this month.
The headline is encouraging for anyone who raises or deploys capital. The detail underneath is more mixed: the same survey shows that fund managers made fewer investments last year, and that more of their money went back into companies they already owned.
Where the new money came from
South African pension and endowment funds were the largest disclosed source of capital, putting in R4.4 billion in 2025 against R1.6 billion in 2024. SAVCA’s CEO, Anusha Naidu, singles out that rise in the survey foreword. Another R4.3 billion came from recycled exit proceeds, meaning cash that funds earned by selling stakes and then committed again. The number of firms raising money rose from 13 to 18.
Not every manager shared equally. Firms with more than R10 billion under management took 51% of everything raised, while mid-market firms (between R2 billion and R5 billion) accounted for the largest number of fundraisers, seven of the 18. Infrastructure and energy funds still drew most of the capital, 62% of the total, but that is down from 71%. Generalist funds lifted their share from 22% to 33%.
Fewer deals, more follow-on money
Investment slowed. Total deployed fell 16% to R22.4 billion, and the number of deals fell from 228 to 186, a drop of 18% (the deal count excludes Business Partners). The value of brand-new investments dropped 22%, from R19.7 billion to R15.3 billion, while follow-on investments rose from R6.9 billion to R7.1 billion and now make up 32% of value, up from 26%. In plain terms, funds were more willing to back companies already in the portfolio than to write first cheques.
SAVCA’s release gives the stage split: expansion and development capital was the largest category at 49% of investment, and buyouts rose from 20% to 38%. Energy, real estate and infrastructure took roughly 40% of value. Education jumped from 2% to about 16%, but the survey itself cautions that this was driven by one fund manager’s deployment, not a broad shift.
One pattern in the highlights deserves attention from mid-sized companies. Mid-market firms lifted their share of deal volume to 37%, from 14% in 2024. Generalist funds took 59% of investment value, up from 41%. If you run a business that does not fit an energy or infrastructure thesis, those are the pools that moved most.
What it means for a business raising capital
Three practical readings follow, and each is a reading of the survey, not a promise about any fund.
First, local institutional appetite is real, but it is going to established managers. Allocators told the survey that second-generation funds are now their top priority ahead of first-time funds, with private equity, real assets and infrastructure the leading allocations and growing interest in private credit, venture capital and fund of funds. That suggests newer managers may find it harder to raise, which matters if you were counting on one of them as a funder.
Second, there is capital waiting. Undrawn commitments, the money pledged to funds but not yet invested, were R45.4 billion at the end of 2025, about twice a year’s deployment. That capacity exists, but managers are being selective, and the 18% fall in deal count shows it.
Third, exits are working again, which is what lets funds go back to their investors for more. Exit proceeds rose 19% to R20.3 billion across 52 exits, trade sales became the leading route (27 exits, R5.8 billion), and the proceeds-to-cost ratio on disclosed exits edged up from 1.5 times to 1.6 times. Write-offs rose from eight to nine. For founders, a buyer from the same industry is now the most common way a fund-backed business is sold, which is worth knowing before you agree a deal structure with an investor.
For companies already in a portfolio
Employment grew at 70% of portfolio companies between 2023 and 2025, with growers averaging 16% compound growth in headcount, but 30% cut staff. Revenue grew faster than 5% a year at 56% of companies (66% in the previous survey), while 26% reported falling revenue. EBITDA growth above 5% was recorded by 55%, and 37% saw it decline. Financial services and the “other” category were the weakest on revenue, with 38% of companies in decline. The point for owners is that backing does not remove operating pressure. Investors are looking at the same trading numbers you are.
What we cannot tell you yet
The survey is voluntary. It rests on 51 private capital firms and seven South African allocators, and SAVCA and EY-Parthenon state in the disclaimer that they did not independently audit the underlying data and that the results are not a census of all activity. Only the highlights are public; the full report is for SAVCA members, so we have not seen sector-level cuts, ticket sizes or the breakdown of money raised for South African deals versus the wider region. The survey covers calendar 2025 and venture capital is reported separately, so it says nothing about 2026 closes. It also says nothing about which individual funds are open to new applicants, how much of the R22 billion is aimed at companies under a given size, or what terms investors are asking for. Treat it as a map of where institutional money is moving, not a list of funders.
Fund managers also differ from lenders. If you are weighing equity against debt, our report on the UIF and NEF’s R1 billion fund covers a development-finance route, while our look at SAVCA’s venture capital survey shows the same concentration on fewer companies at the early stage. For a sense of who actually raised money, see South Africa’s biggest startup funding rounds, ranked, and for companies thinking about the public markets, our piece on the JSE and TIA pilot.
Sources: the SAVCA Private Capital Industry Survey 2026 highlights (primary, read 27 October 2026), the SAVCA data and research page, SAVCA’s release as published by Africa Private Equity News on 22 October 2026 and by IT-Online on 26 October 2026. Stage, sector and “recycled proceeds” splits come from the release text, not the highlights PDF.
