JOHANNESBURG – Vivica Group, formerly known as Vox Holdings, is poised to turn up the heat on the unlisted, private sector in South Africa, by bringing well-established and powerhouse brands such as Vox, Braintree, Frogfoot and Everlytic into the same stable as exciting, high-growth-potential technology companies such as Guardian Eye, qwerti, Stage Zero, Nymbis and HYPA. According to Vivica CEO Jacques du Toit, the company exists to enable forward-thinkers to challenge convention.
He adds that the structure is designed to deliberately create a spread of value from the mature incumbents to the green shoots, saying that one of the major benefits of building the Vivica Group, overseen by Vivica Holdings, is to cross-pollinate best practice and the A-team entrepreneurial mindset that has seen the group’s large companies grow rapidly into established and trusted brands.
“We exist to challenge the conventional and enable problem-solving, whether it’s energy, security, connectivity or cloud computing. Wherever there is a pressing challenge in society, the best thinkers and entrepreneurs develop compelling answers, and we’re giving them a home. The group’s structure enables an entrepreneurial, visionary spirit to grow and scale in a sustainable manner. It’s an exceptionally exciting space and we will be making announcements of exciting and innovative businesses joining Vivica over the coming months.
“We have created optionality within the greater business, while simultaneously providing an environment for sharing institutional knowledge and best practice from our established brands with newer businesses to fast-track their growth.
Du Toit says that the group seeks out high-growth-potential businesses that share the entrepreneurial DNA of the Vivica group of companies. “In many ways, you could say we identify and back the jockey. If the group’s purpose is to enable businesses access to more capital and provide structure so that they can outsource non-core activities and focus on their business’s mission.
“A group such as ours, which is future-focused and technology-driven, is leading the growth in what could be considered a very young market compared to the US, for example. Millions of new consumers are being brought into the mainstream economy and coming online, and this will provide the rocket fuel for well-run companies.”
The private sector, he says, is buzzing with innovation, helped by its lean structures and entrepreneurial boards. “I’m taking nothing away from the listed sector, it has a key role to play. What I am suggesting from experience is that the next multibillion-rand businesses are being nurtured in the private sector, which by its nature lends itself to innovation and fast decision-making by well experienced entrepreneurial jockeys.
Du Toit says the pandemic was a prime example of how private companies can benefit from having access to a core executive team that can guide on best practices and strategies by leveraging what’s working for other companies in the group. In the same way, the leadership teams of the individual companies benefit hugely by having access to other teams and strategic counsel. This makes Vivica Group a very powerful technology-driven growth company with more than 220,000 customers,” he says.
Du Toit says that the group’s near and longer-term plans include strategic acquisitions, launching a paradigm-shifting renewable energy business called Stage Zero in August, and active investigations into various expansion opportunities into international markets. “Stage Zero will be a welcome entrant in its sector, and Everlytic, our digital marketing business, will establish a presence in Europe from July 2022. Each of the Vivica subsidiaries has the building blocks to easily be replicated across the world,” says Du Toit.
