South African investor and entrepreneur Polo Leteka is funding and mentoring black women-led businesses and driving economic inclusion across Africa. She is using IDF Capital, which she founded and Alitheia IDF, which she co-founded, to expand funding opportunities for women-led enterprises across the continent.
One thing Polo Leteka knows is that talent and ambition exist everywhere. Access to funding, however, is an entirely different story.
Many black-owned and women-led businesses in South Africa struggle to secure capital as traditional financial institutions often slam the doors in their faces. Leteka refused to accept this as the norm. Instead, she built an institution that would rewrite the rules of business funding for South African women.
In 2008, she founded IDF Capital, a female-owned and led investment firm dedicated to supporting high-growth SMEs, particularly those owned by black women and youths. Over the years, IDF Capital has grown into a powerhouse, managing a portfolio of 76 companies and deploying capital with a dual focus on profit and impact.
Birthing a bold vision
Polo Leteka saw a broken system in which promising businesses, especially those led by black women, were starved of capital despite their potential. Since banks weren’t willing to take the risk, she decided to invest herself.
With IDF Capital, she built an investment firm that funds and nurtures businesses from seed to growth stage. Her gender-lens investment strategy actively bridges the financing gap for women-led companies through strategic investments ranging from R250,000 ($13,608) to R30 million ($1,632,653). The firm prioritises sectors like technology, digital solutions, renewable energy, sustainability, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, retail and education.
IDF Capital offers short- and long-term debt, quasi-equity and equity funding. This flexible approach has helped businesses scale sustainably, leading to thousands of jobs created and millions in capital deployed. The firm now manages a robust portfolio, with R149 million ($8,110,598) committed in its IDF 1 fund and R320 million ($17,418,850) in its IDF II fund.
Leteka has also made mentorship and capacity-building central to the firm’s philosophy. She has also been instrumental in shaping Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policies, pushing for investments that reflect the diversity and talent of South Africa’s business.
Co-founding Alitheia IDF: scaling impact across Africa
Polo Leteka didn’t stop with IDF Capital. In 2014, she co-founded Alitheia IDF, Africa’s largest gender-lens private equity fund, alongside Tokunboh Ishmael of Alitheia Capital.
Alitheia IDF was created to empower women-led businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa through large-scale investment. Between 2020 and 2023, the fund deployed over $45.4 million across 11 portfolio companies, a staggering 1,582% increase from its initial $2.7 million investment in 2020. Nearly 2,000 jobs have been created, with 55% of them filled by women.
Additionally, 73% of portfolio companies are women-owned, ensuring gender representation at the top. Their investments span six African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. The fund also integrates climate-conscious practices, supporting businesses aligned with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). In 2024, Alitheia IDF was recognised as the “Impact Fund of the Year,” further cementing its role as a game-changer in the African investment landscape.
Beyond her investment ventures, Polo Leteka is an accomplished public speaker and co-author of “…and for all these reasons, I’M IN…”, a book designed to help entrepreneurs become investor-ready.
