NEW DELHI, UAE – 13th June 2023 – Convergence Partners Investments, the deep tech investor started by Andile Ngcaba in 2003 announced it has rebranded to Solcon Capital. The move comes as the Company launches a big push to empower global deep tech growth through platform economics.
Convergence Partners Investments (now Solcon Capital) was the first vehicle structured as a permanent capital vehicle in the Convergence Partners stable. Andile Ngcaba remains firmly invested in and continues to drive the growth at Convergence Partners, which will continue to focus on private equity through its current and future digital infrastructure funds.
Under this new brand, Solcon will focus on international deep tech investments in Generative AI & Large Language Models (LLM), Synthetic Data & Big Data, Cybersecurity, and Quantum Computing across South Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, leveraging scale through platform economics. Solcon is already demonstrating its leadership in innovation and disruptive solutions. It is working on its flagship AI-based investment management platform, Solcon 360 to be unveiled at its 20th anniversary celebrations this October. This platform will enable investment companies to manage pipelines, VDR, and operations of their portfolios more effectively. With its own Large Scale Language Model (LLM), Solcon 360 will allow investment companies to capitalise on Generative AI and build custom models tailored to their investment needs.
As part of the rebranding, Solcon also announced the appointment of Pramod Venkatesh as CEO starting 1 August 2023. He will spearhead the global growth of the company. Pramod has extensive experience in managing and building Deep Tech companies ground up garnered from Silicon Valley. Prior to joining Solcon Capital, Pramod was the Group CTO of inq. where he was responsible for building products & solutions around AI, SDN & Edge Computing.
Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Solcon Capital, expressed his excitement about the future of the company and Pramod’s appointment: “Solcon Capital has a 20-year history of innovation and disruption through investments in companies that have built undersea cables, long-haul fibre, Big Data, etc. In this new chapter, Solcon Capital will be known as one of the leading global Deep Tech investment companies. We are excited to bring on board Pramod Venkatesh, with extensive experience in Silicon Valley and expertise in building deep tech companies. Pramod will execute Solcon Capital’s 2035 strategy. With Pramod at the helm, we will continue to disrupt deep tech and are excited to show what the future holds.”
Brandon Doyle, Director Solcon Capital said: “The exponential growth of Convergence Partners in the past 20 years and our geographic expansion to new Asian markets make this strategic move of rebranding our permanent capital vehicle to SolCon Capital timely and ideal given the strides we have made. We welcome Pramod to drive our global deep tech strategy and ensure we make use of cutting-edge technologies to assist us with portfolio management.”
“The technology sector has undergone some incredibly transformative changes with significant innovations in AI, LLM, and Space Tech which have already begun to dramatically reshape the global business landscape. As a Deep-Tech Investor along with our rich two-decade-long history in Africa, Solcon Capital has been a fundamental driving force behind the radical transformation of the Continent’s tech ecosystem. As we step confidently into the future, we remain committed to leveraging our global portfolio to extend our African footprint, while concurrently investing in African deep-tech companies in their global expansion efforts. I am profoundly grateful to the shareholders, directors, and the Chairman for entrusting me with the responsibility of spearheading Solcon Capital on its journey towards actualizing the 2035 Deep Tech strategy.” said Pramod Venkatesh, CEO, Solcon Capital.
Solcon Capital will celebrate its 20th Anniversary on the 25th of October 2023 through a Conference and Hackathon on Web 3.0 and Generative AI in Sandton, South Africa.