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Magda Wierzycka, the founder and chief executive of Sygnia, is launching a venture capital fund focused on South African startups building artificial intelligence products, in a move aimed at backing local tech talent before it leaves for bigger markets.
The fund will target entrepreneurs developing AI based tools and systems, with Wierzycka arguing that South Africa has strong engineering talent but lacks enough structured capital to support founders at home.
Her pitch is direct: if local investors do not fund South African AI builders, the country will keep exporting software talent and later pay to import the same technologies.
Wierzycka is one of South Africa’s best known business leaders and is widely recognized as one of the country’s wealthiest self made women. She built Sygnia into a major asset manager and has long been a prominent voice on corporate governance, capital markets and public policy.
The planned AI fund marks a shift from public market investing into earlier stage technology financing, but it also fits a broader theme in Wierzycka’s career. She has repeatedly argued that capital allocation shapes economic outcomes, and that investors can either deepen local productive capacity or watch it move elsewhere.
The timing is significant. Interest in AI has surged globally, but South African founders still face a familiar challenge. Many can build products and attract technical teams, yet struggle to secure local funding at the speed needed to compete internationally. That often pushes startups to relocate, raise abroad, or move intellectual property to markets with deeper venture ecosystems.
Wierzycka has said she sees a gap opening between countries that finance AI development and those that simply consume imported platforms. Her fund is expected to focus on closing part of that gap by giving local founders earlier support.
The move also comes as debate grows around whether AI investment is becoming overheated. Wierzycka has publicly warned about excess and hype in parts of the market, but her decision to back a dedicated fund suggests she sees long term value in the technology when paired with disciplined investing.
Details on the final fund size, structure and first investments have not yet been fully outlined publicly. What is clear is the direction: a high profile South African financier is putting capital and reputation behind an effort to build AI companies locally.
If the strategy works, it could help create a stronger pipeline of homegrown AI firms and give South Africa a bigger stake in one of the most important technology shifts now reshaping business.
