Since 2011, the Action Fund has been a proven way to meet your ESD obligations and make a real difference. Overseen by independent trustees and audited every year, it earns your contribution B-BBEE recognition, cost-effectively, while our team does the work and reports the impact.
A live portfolio and a track record behind it. You are backing more than a decade of experience in growing South African SMEs, not a new vehicle.
Independent trustees, an annual audit and verification statements timed to your year end, so the paperwork your scorecard needs is ready on time.
Verified every year, with no selection or administration work for your team, while your contribution counts towards your scorecard.
You see the businesses we backed and the jobs they supported. So far, R191 million has been deployed to 54 SMEs, with 814 jobs created.
Each tier includes everything in the one before it, so you can start where you are and take on more involvement over time.
Invest alongside other contributors
Ideal for: corporates who want their ESD compliance handled properly, without a say in each deal.
Direct your capital where it matters to you
Ideal for: corporates who want their contribution visible and pointed at their supply chain, sector or region.
A fund built around your priorities
Ideal for: corporates with a sizeable ESD budget and a strategic reason to shape it: a supply chain, a community commitment or a group transformation mandate.
* Subject to deal availability, i.e. SMEs meeting eligibility and screening criteria. Where SMEs you supply don’t meet those criteria, the fund may deploy into other qualifying deals so your contribution keeps working.
Pricing is cost-effective and scaled to the size and shape of your mandate. Let’s talk through what fits.
A dedicated team of 14 across investment, operations, finance and compliance, selecting, managing and reporting on every deal.
Every contribution goes into SMEs and the jobs they create. The video and figures below show this in practice.
SMEs funded to date
Jobs supported
Deployed since 2011
Of funded SMEs are majority black-owned
Founded by a driver with 20 years on the road, Nandu was backed in 2022 to buy a truck for its Afrox contract, and again in 2024 for two new trucks. It has grown faster than projected, and R5m is now committed to keep it moving.
An instalment sale agreement, working capital and mentorship from 2019 helped this Durban security technology firm, wholly owned by black women, grow its team and win contracts with Transnet, ABSA and Standard Bank. It has since exited the fund. Visit their website for more info: https://jrssolutions.co.za/
A working capital facility eased cash flow for this 51% women-owned chemicals supplier. It repaid its original R5m loan in full, grew revenue by 20% in FY23/24 and won gold at the 2023 National Productivity Awards, then secured a further R3m. Visit their website for more info: https://massq.co.za/
The Action Fund invests in black-owned SMEs with strong growth potential. Along with capital, you get mentorship and access to corporate supply chains.
Some of the corporates we’ve partnered with
