Device identity and payment authentication company Entersekt has announced a new investment from PAPE Fund 3 (PAPE), an established mid-market South African private equity fund. The transaction was signed on 24 May 2022 and follows an investment by Silicon Valley-based Accel-KKR in December 2021.
Entersekt was founded in Stellenbosch in 2010. The company’s software currently secures over 1 billion transactions every month, protecting millions of financial services customers across the globe. Entersekt is recognised as an innovator in the global authentication market, known for delivering market and industry firsts.
PAPE joins Entersekt’s shareholder base that includes Nedbank Private Equity, Rand Merchant Investment Holdings (RMI) and Accel-KKR (AKKR), a recognised global leader in private equity with a track record of successful investments in mid-market software and technology-enabled services businesses around the world. The investments are fuelling Entersekt’s global expansion and supporting recent successes in regions such as the USA and Latin America.
PAPE Fund 3 is a limited partnership, private equity fund managed by PAPE Fund Managers (Pty) Ltd, a Level-1 BBBEE FSP licensed fund manager. PAPE Fund 3 has ZAR1.03 billion in investor commitments. Institutional investors in PAPE Fund 3 include various South African pension funds and asset managers, a Dutch development bank, and a pool of family offices.
Dr Zuko Kubukeli and Mr Ikageng Moatshe, principals at PAPE Fund Managers, led the transaction and were impressed by Entersekt’s strong track record. “Entersekt is a global market leader in the digital security landscape with scalable, world-class IT infrastructure and architecture. At PAPE, we back local entrepreneurs with a globally-competitive edge and provide strategic value-add and expansion capital. With the Entersekt team and shareholding structure, we believe we are poised for stellar growth,” says Kubukeli.
“We are thrilled to welcome PAPE on board,” says Schalk Nolte, CEO at Entersekt. “The fund has a very strong footprint in our home market of South Africa, and their expertise will bring a valuable perspective alongside our existing shareholders. PAPE’s investment helps us further bolster operational support as we scale Entersekt in our strategic focus regions. We look forward to achieving great success together.”