About Jacana

Jacana was founded in 2008 by a group with substantial experience in the private equity and venture capital industry in Europe. Its co-founders include Stephen Dawson (a pioneer in the UK VC industry 30 years ago and a co-founder of Impetus Trust, a venture philanthropy charity), Lord Joel Joffe (a philanthropist with a background in human rights law, a successful entrepreneur and former Chairman of Oxfam), Connie Helyar (a successful entrepreneur in fund administration for private equity) and Simon Merchant (a successful entrepreneur and VC investor).

Jacana invests in and supports new and emerging Growth Capital Investment Managers (GCMs) in Sub-Saharan Africa and builds the capacity of its GCM Partners to the point where they can achieve critical mass in their operations and fund sunder management. Jacana’s objective is to select the highest poten tial GCM Partners for inclusion in its partnership network and then to work closely with these partners to create an attractive investment opportunity for the international investment community.