Naspers is not a conventional venture fund — it is a century-old company that made one of the greatest investments in technology history, and turned itself into one of the largest tech investors in the world. Established in 1915 in Cape Town and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ), it famously took an early stake in Tencent in 2001, a bet that went on to anchor a global consumer-internet empire.
Today the group's global internet assets sit in Prosus, listed primarily on Euronext Amsterdam in 2019, with Naspers as its majority owner (the complex cross-holding between the two is being unwound to simplify the structure). Through Prosus, the group operates and invests globally in markets with long-term growth potential — food delivery, classifieds, fintech and edtech — building consumer internet companies across dozens of countries.
In South Africa, Naspers is the country's foremost technology investor, with a portfolio that includes Takealot, Mr D Food, Autotrader, Property24 and PayU, alongside Media24, the country's leading print and digital media business. It also runs Naspers Labs, a youth development programme launched in 2019 that trains unemployed young South Africans in digital skills for tech careers. The group is led by chair Koos Bekker, CEO Fabricio Bloisi and Phuti Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO of the South African business.
Founders should note one important recent change: Naspers Foundry, the group's R1.4 billion (about $100 million) South Africa-focused venture fund launched in 2019 to back Series A and B startups, was wound down in 2023. Its portfolio — including Planet42, SweepSouth, Naked Insurance, Aerobotics and WhereIsMyTransport — continues to be supported with follow-on capital, and the South African mandate now sits with Prosus Ventures, the group's international early-stage arm. Naspers itself remains a strategic builder and investor rather than a traditional VC, which means it looks for businesses aligned with its consumer-internet footprint.
The Naspers story is a reminder that patient, concentrated capital compounds: a single early conviction in Tencent funded a generation of internet businesses across the emerging world.
For founders seeking capital today, the relevant door is Prosus Ventures, which backs early-stage technology companies globally with a focus on food, fintech, edtech, health and social commerce. The group's venture arm operates across India, Europe, Latin America and beyond, writing the kind of growth cheques that local seed funds cannot. Naspers' century-long arc — from a South African newspaper publisher in 1915 to a global consumer-internet investor — also shows how the group thinks: long holding periods, emerging-market conviction, and a willingness to back category-defining platforms before the crowd arrives.
Why it matters for founders
Prosus Ventures — Naspers' active early-stage arm — is the door to knock on for growth-stage consumer-internet startups, especially in emerging markets. And the Naspers playbook carries a lesson for every founder: one right, early, concentrated bet can fund everything that follows, so choose your first believers as carefully as Naspers chose Tencent.