Original engineering team started to develop FEKO
About us
We stay actively involved in the evolution of businesses through all their phases of growth from incubation to scaling to profitable.
About us
We stay actively involved in the evolution of businesses from incubation to scaling to profitable.
Who We Are
The Group has a unique approach to investment, focused on aligning and supporting the right people to find commercial ideas based on their individual field of expertise. Profits and experience are shared from the profitable businesses to grow the incubation and scaling businesses.
The Group has a track record of expanding internationally, with over 50% of companies selling abroad. The portfolio comprises of 16 innovative tech businesses, over 330 employees and more than 175 engineers and developers.
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Innovative tech businesses
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of portfolio companies selling abroad
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Employees
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Engineers
Our Story
1997
1999
Alphawave Mobile Network Services was born, providing EMF compliances services to operators
2002
EMSS Antennas established as hardware development partner
2005
EMSS Antennas started with R&D work on radio astronomy receivers for SKA-SA
2008
- Antenna Magus, an antenna design acceleration tool, was founded
- Developed IXUS an EMF Compliance tool for internal use and for sale on the international market
2009
Developed and launched FieldSENSE to protect RF workers at cellular base station sites
2012
Skynamo was founded (originally called Field Office and later Honeybee) using tablets and smartphones to manage field sales
2014
- Antennas Magus sold to CST Germany
- FEKO sold to Altair
- Started to design and build Inrange® Golf, a golf ball tracking radar system, out of EMSS Antennas
2015
- Alphawave Ventures founded as investment vehicle for new startups in electronics and software.
- Sozo Labs, a virtual reality company was founded as one of the first Alphawave Ventures investments.
- Investment in Etse, a precision electronics business, which today includes FarmRanger, Farmtrack and Cubecom.
2016
First tranche investment in Polymorph Sytems, a specialised mobile app development company
2017
- Investment in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) companies including Saigen and Predictive Insights
- HCI becomes a co-investor in Inrange® Golf
2019
- Skynamo secures series A funding from Five Elms for growth investment into the USA and UK markets
- Callbi was developed for contact centers, using Saigen’s automatic speech recognition technology
2020
- Kagiso Capital invest R100 million in the Alphawave Group
- Investment in Neurozone, digitising neuroscience and analytics to build resilience
2021
Bytefuse and Scout founded out of ML/AI Innovation Unit
2022
Hawktivity, a computer vision at the edge company, was founded out of the IoT Innovation Unit.
Our Technology
Our portfolio companies have all built innovative technologies in the world of electronics, software and data – or a powerful combination of these. This includes:
• Electronic design & development
• Interconnected sensor technology
• Back-end & front-end software development (mobile & web)
• Electromagnetic fields
• Machine learning, artificial intelligence & data science
• Voice technology
• Extended, virtual & augmented reality
How We Help
As engineers with first-hand
experience in building
successful international tech
businesses, we support each
company with continuous and
relevant business insights, as
well as central support for
finance, marketing, sales and
human capital development.
How We Help
As engineers with first-hand experience in building successful international tech businesses, we support each company with continuous and relevant business insights, as well as central support for finance, marketing, sales and human capital development.
Business Insights
We are strategically involved at board level with
every company. We assist CEOs in making the right
decisions, taking market challenges and resource
constraints into account.
every company. We assist CEOs in making the right
decisions, taking market challenges and resource
constraints into account.
Financial Management
We offer financial services, including budget cycles
and financial model preparation for most of the
portfolio.
and financial model preparation for most of the
portfolio.
Marketing
We provide strategic marketing support to the companies where required. This includes putting marketing foundations in place to develop our portfolio brands and generate demand for sales. We also encourage inter-group learnings through Group events to share best practices and learn from each other’s experiences.
Human Capital Development
From performance reviews to talent acquisition, we support companies with human capital management and
development.
Sales
We assist our portfolio companies with sales support including go-to-market strategy, SDR support for appointment setting, sales operations, and sales consulting throughout the sales cycle. A core focus is to help our incubation companies on their journey from founder sales to building scalable sales engines. The process, structure, and regular conversations with prospects help to guide marketing and product development, validate product-market fit, speed up decisions to pivot, and ultimately boost sales.
Work With Us
We are always looking for highly talented people to join our team. We have full-time and internship opportunities within the group.
Work With Us
We are always looking for highly
talented people to join our team.
We have full-time and internship
opportunities within the group.
talented people to join our team.
We have full-time and internship
opportunities within the group.
Work With Us
We are always looking for highly talented people to join our team. We have full-time and internship opportunities within the group.