venture building · startup acceleration · series a investment
we build and back south african businesses with the potential to make a meaningful impact and scale internationally
↓our purpose
an idea becomes meaningful when it changes something in the world. someone gains access to a service. a difficult task becomes possible. a system works better for the people who rely on it.
lab2sky brings together the work of creating a business, helping it mature and assessing the capital it needs to grow. impact gives us a reason to build. a durable business model allows that impact to continue and its economic value to grow.
three ways to move forward
bring a problem worth solving, or explore leading a venture with us. test the opportunity, shape the product and establish a route to customers.
explore venture building ↗02 / developyou have begun. work on the question standing between your business and its next stage: customers, revenue, product or the team.
explore startup support ↗03 / growyou have evidence that the business works. understand our investment focus and what we would need to assess the next stage.
explore series a ↗our series a investment firm and fund are in development. introductory conversations are welcome; this website does not accept investment subscriptions or promise funding.
one shared thesis
we focus on south african technology ventures with a meaningful problem to solve, a credible route to customers and a model that earns from continuing value.
we look for customer needs that extend beyond the first market and businesses capable of competing internationally.
understand our thesis ↗our beginning
our founding perspective began with a genetics company. seeing an idea become something real shaped the belief behind lab2sky: the journey from possibility to impact needs a business capable of carrying it.
read our story ↗industry signals
selected developments in the businesses, technologies and ideas shaping our focus, and the questions they raise for people building what comes next.
disrupt africa profiles kenya’s studylabai, which turns learners’ course materials into study tools. the company describes a tutor that points learners back to the relevant slide or recording and uses questions to check understanding.
source: disrupt africadisrupt africa reports that happy pay launched happy ads, describing a model where retailers set a commission and pay when a campaign leads to a completed sale. the report connects product discovery, advertising and payment data.
source: disrupt africathe iea’s 21 october commentary describes how disrupted tanker routes and higher freight costs add pressure to the cost of supplying crude oil and refined fuels. its analysis separates commodity prices from transport constraints.
source: iea