South Africa’s wealthy Oppenheimer family is investing in the country’s technology sector. E Oppenheimer & Son has become an investor in a venture capital fund run by Cape Town’s 4Di Capital.

The Oppenheimer investment — the value is not being disclosed — will double the size of 4Di’s Capital Fund 1. This, 4Di says, will allow it to “expand into further new investments while also having more capital available to accelerate the growth of its current portfolio”.

The Johann Rupert-chaired Reinet Fund is also a significant investor in the 4Di fund, along with 4Di Capital management.

4Di Capital has made seven investments in South African ventures, recently profitably selling its stake in mobile community start-up Motribe Networks to social network Mxit. It invests in early-stage technology ventures with global potential. Investments include Personera, Snapt-UI, Skyrove, BetTech and SMEasy.

Founding partner Justin Stanford tells TechCentral that 4Di Capital has been keen to broaden its investor base for some time. “We started a fundraising mission over a year ago,” he says. “Our goal was to secure one other investment that would match what we already had in the fund.”

Stanford says he spoke to a range of interested investors, locally and internationally, before eventually settling on a deal with the Oppenheimers. “They were very enthusiastic, even when we first started talking to them.”