Top 5 Mobile Apps Angel Investors in South Africa in October 2023

Nas, byname of Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, also called Nasty Nas, (born September 14, 1973, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.), American rapper and songwriter who became a dominant voice in 1990s East Coast hip-hop. Nas built a reputation as an expressive chronicler of inner-city street life.Nasir Jones, the son of a jazz musician, grew up in public housingin Queens, New York. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade and searched for a creative outlet, finally settling on hip-hop. His breakthrough came in 1992, when his song “Half Time” (credited to Nasty Nas) appeared on the sound track to the film Zebrahead. Columbia Records soon signed him to a contract. His debut recording as Nas, Illmatic (1994), drew widespread acclaim for its poetic narration of hard-edged inner-city life.The more pop-oriented approach of It Was Written (1996) helped that album reach an even wider audience than its predecessor but ignited a recurring tension in Nas’s career between the appetite of the pop audience and the demands of hip-hop purists. He maintained his commercial appeal with I Am... (1999), although by that time he had also become embroiled in a public feud with fellow rapper Jay-Z over which of the two was the preeminent voice in East Coast hip-hop. The schism inspired Stillmatic (2001), which many fans considered a return to form. The two rappers publicly settled their differences in 2005, and shortly thereafter Nas signed with Def Jam, of which Jay-Z was president at the time.Nas’s penchant for provocation marked Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and an untitled follow-up (2008), while Life Is Good (2012) struck an introspective tone. He also notably collaborated with reggae musician Damian Marley (the youngest son of Bob Marley) on the album Distant Relatives (2010).Nas also made occasional film appearances, notably in Belly (1998), a crime drama in which he starred opposite rapper DMX, and Black Nativity (2013), an adaptation of Langston Hughes’s gospel play.

Investment focus

E-Commerce, Internet, Software
Seed, Series A, Series B
United States, Canada, Brazil

Portfolio highlights

Magic Spoon — Magic Spoon cereal is high-protein, low-sugar, keto-friendly, and gluten-free. Available in Cocoa, Frosted, Fruity, Blueberry, Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon.
Everyrealm — Leaders in metaverse innovation and development.
Altered State Machine — Altered State Machine, aims to be a platform and protocol which any developer can build on it; can create, own, and compete with AI-based agents (bots) and upgrade and train their AI, buy, and sell them as NFTs. This will bring an evolution for NFTS.

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Justin is a 31-year old entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist from Cape Town, South Africa. He is founder, MD, board member, advisor, or investor to a wide variety of companies in the global technology sector.Having grown up on a farm, he decided not to complete high-school and instead made the move to the city of Cape Town, topursue his dreams of being an Internet entrepreneur.Despite years of struggles and false starts in the wake of the dotcom crash in 2001, he ultimately went on to successfully launch and grow a pan-African Internet based software company from a garage in the suburbs of Cape Town.Have founded his first startup attempt at the age of 18, Justin has been involved in tech startups and entrepreneurial endeavours ever since.He is today the co-founder and MD of 4Di Group, a diversified investment management group and family office, and co-founding General Partner of early-stage technology venture capital firm 4Di Capital, as well as an active angel investor.As co-founder and Steering Committee Chairman of the Silicon Cape Initiative in 2009, designed to highlight and foster South Africa's nascent emerging tech startup ecosystem, Justin fully believes in South Africa’s potential as a global technology innovation hub.In 2011, he was listed by the Mail & Guardian for the 'Top 200 Young South Africans', and in 2013, listed by Forbes for '30 Under 30: Africa's Best Young Entrepreneurs'.

Investment focus

FinTech, Financial Services, Security
Seed, Angel, Series A
South Africa

Portfolio highlights

FitKey — FitKey is about helping you find and manage the fitness life that makes you happy, through discovering new classes, studios, and fitness activities. With easy online and mobile booking, FitKey keeps your routine interesting.
TaxTim — Originally funded by Google in 2011, TaxTim is Africa's answer to Making Tax Easy. Answer simple questions one-by-one, in a friendly automated chat, and your tax return is done in minutes. TaxTim has 40% market share of the tax base in South Africa (~4.5m), and has deployed localised versions in Namibia and Nigeria as JVs with PwC previously.TaxTim is integrated with the local revenue service (SARS) for instant electronic tax submissions, and partners with some of SA's largest consumer brands - Airbnb, Momentum, Sanlam, Old Mutual, FNB eBucks - to provide tax services for free or at discount. TaxTim has several business models including B2C, B2B and B2B2C. TaxTim is a compelling and popular consumer brand, with a fully-developed, profitable broker/financial product leads ecosystem.
Ekaya.com — Ekaya exists to make renting simpler, safer and more connected - for everyone.

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Calvin Ayre (born May 25, 1961, in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Canada) is the founder of the Bodog online gaming and entertainment brand, which he developed and launched in 1994.Ayre received a Bachelor of Sciences (BSc) in General Sciences from the University of Waterloo in 1984. In 1989, Ayre earned an MBA in Management Finance from CityUniversity of Seattle.

Investment focus

Blockchain, Information Technology, Bitcoin
Seed, Funding Round, Series A
United States, United Kingdom, Spain

Portfolio highlights

Mijem — Mijem is the buy sell marketplace app to tap into your campus community. Save money. Earn cash. Connect with students. Download the free app.
Centi — Get a real-time payment solution designed for media, events, and e-commerce. Download the app and discover all the benefits Centi brings for business worldwide!
Transmira — Augmented and Virtual Reality Solutions

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Brian Corrigan is the VP and Head of Americas at PUBG Corporation. He attended Clarkson University and the University at Albany, SUNY. (This website is horribly out of date, probably best to hit my website or LinkedIn)

Investment focus

Gaming, Internet, SaaS
Series A, Seed, Angel
United States, Estonia, South Africa

Portfolio highlights

Powerspike — Powerspike is a new type of advertising network based on content creators - where any marketer can make their brand famous in a few clicks. Our Endorsement Serving technology automatically buys, executes, and optimizes content creator endorsements - replacing the traditionally lengthy process of RFP’s, human negotiations, and insertion orders.
Ready Player Me — The Ready Player Me platform leverages AI, ML , and a suite of developer-first tools to empower developers to integrate avatars into their games and apps to launch faster, improve user adoption, and grow revenue through asset monetization.
Carry1st — Carry1st develops and publishes enriching mobile games and content apps for African consumers.

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