KA

Kalon Venture Partners

VC
Johannesburg, South AfricaWebsite
How to approach: warm intro preferred
Stage

Pre-Seed, Seed

Check Size

$500K – $2.0M

AUM

$18M

Portfolio

2+ companies

Team

10 partners

Investor activity
Investments in last 12 months: 0

Investment Thesis

Kalon invests in early-stage South African tech startups with scalable, high-growth platforms in B2B SaaS and marketplaces.

Meet the Team

MB

Marc Balkin

Principal

Early and growth-stage investment
Governance

Marc brings over 20 years of early and growth-stage investment experience across Africa. He has served on boards across four continents and held key positions in a multitude of developmental funds.

LV

Leron Varsha

CEO

CB

Clive Butkow

CEO & Partner

B2B SaaS
Scalable Platforms
AB

Arnold Basserabie

Principal

Strategy
Business development

Arnold is the Former Group Chief Executive of Fedsure Financial Services Group. Arnold currently consults for numerous businesses, focusing on strategy and business development.

GO

Gil Oved

Principal

Entrepreneurship
Marketing
Business transformation

Gil is a well-known South African entrepreneur having founded the Creative Counsel. Gil featured on Shark Tank South Africa. Gil was previously voted EY Southern Africa World Entrepreneur.

SB

Sean Bernstein

Associate

Corporate finance
Venture capital

Sean Bernstein holds a B.Com Honours in Corporate Finance & Investment from the University of the Witwatersrand. He now applies his expertise in venture capital at Kalon, where he plays a key role in supporting innovative tech startups.

RK

Romeo Kumalo

Non-Executive Chairman

Information Communication
Telecoms industries

Romeo was the former CEO of Vodacom/Vodafone of International Business. He is currently CEO and Co-Founder of LLH Capital. Romeo has over 20 years of experience in the Information Communication and Telecoms industries.

MN

Melbourne Nyamadzawo

Associate

Startup strategy
Entrepreneurship

Melbourne holds an undergraduate degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Management with a major in Finance, and he completed Honours and Masters Degrees in Strategic Management with a focus on startup strategy and entrepreneurship.

FH

Fatima Habib

Principal

HR
Finance
IT
Operations
Strategy

Fatima previously served on the Board of SEDA and was the former GM of ABSA Private Bank. Fatima has over 20 years of experience within all areas of business - HR, Finance, IT, Operations and Strategy.

EO

Edwin Oblowitz

Principal

Financial services
Advisory for high net worth families

Eddy is the Principal at Contineo Financial Services and serves as an adviser to high net worth SA and international families. Eddy was a Senior Partner at Arthur Andersen.

Industry Focus

Invests In

SaaS
Marketplace

Portfolio Companies (2)

Other

OZ

Ozow

FinTech
EM

Email Connection

B2B SaaS
How to pitch Kalon Venture Partners
  • Raising at Pre-Seed, Seed? You're squarely in their sweet spot.
  • Lead with your fit in SaaS, Marketplace — the sectors they actively back.
  • Size your ask to their typical $500K – $2.0M check.
  • warm intro preferred
  • Address your outreach to a specific partner, such as Marc Balkin, Principal.
  • A warm introduction beats a cold email. Get matched and request an intro.

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