Climb Channel Solutions has announced its expansion into South Africa as part of its continued EMEA growth strategy.
Alongside its market entry, Climb has signed a distribution partnership with Sophos, bringing its full portfolio of security solutions to South African resellers and managed service providers (MSPs).
This move marks the next step in Climb’s EMEA expansion strategy, and follows successful moves into the UK, DACH, Ireland and Southeastern Europe.
Climb’s South African team, which will all be Sophos sales certified, is led by Andrew Potgieter, sales director South Africa, who will spearhead the company’s partner-first approach in the market.
Climb’s partnership with Sophos includes the vendor’s managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies, which includes endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM.
The partnership comes at a time of increasing cybersecurity urgency in South Africa. According to the Sophos State of Ransomware 2025 report, South African organisations face an escalating crisis, with 71% of surveyed firms paying ransoms, which is a sharp increase from 43% in 2024. This data highlights the need for advanced, integrated security solutions and trusted partner support.
Dale Foster, CEO of Climb, comments: “South Africa represents a key strategic market in our EMEA growth journey. Our investment in local talent and infrastructure reflects our long-term commitment to the region and to empowering partners with the tools, expertise, and support they need to succeed.
“To enter the region with a partner of the calibre of Sophos demonstrates our clear intention: to deliver the best technology to partners in South Africa and to help them grow.”
Andrew Potgieter, sales director: South Africa at Climb, says: “We are excited to bring Climb’s proven distribution model to South Africa. Our focus is on building strong, trusted relationships with partners and helping them accelerate growth through enablement, responsiveness, and access to leading technologies like Sophos.
“By establishing a permanent local presence from day one, Climb aims to bring stability, choice, and international perspective to the South African cybersecurity ecosystem, supporting partners as customer requirements become increasingly complex and globally connected.
“This is just the beginning for Climb in South Africa – in the coming weeks we’ll be announcing our bespoke AI program for partners, which is designed to take partners from AI curiosity to full-scale success.”
John Mitchell, director of channels EMEA North at Sophos, adds: “We are pleased to expand our relationship with Climb into South Africa. Their strong channel focus and commitment to partner enablement make them an ideal distributor to help scale our presence and support partners in delivering best-in-class cybersecurity solutions.
“Our relationship with Climb has been built over many years, and we are excited for this new phase of global expansion.”
Pieter Nel, regional head: SADC at Sophos , says: “This partnership with Climb strengthens how we serve South African organisations, extending access to Sophos’ AI-driven platform and deep threat intelligence insights.
“Together, we can deliver integrated prevention, detection, and response that can grow with customers, from mid-market to the largest environments, as threats continue to accelerate.”