When Ryan Paterson and his co-founder Thomas Schmider launched their investment fund Getihu back in 2018, it picked what was at the time a trail less trodden when it came to the type of startups it would back.
Getihu would operate in the B2B SaaS space, and the firm’s first investment was in Hi5, a South African venture operating in the unheralded human resources (HR) space. It remains one of relatively few active investors in the sector, with Paterson citing huge opportunities but also many roadblocks.
“HR is still very underdeveloped in Africa. It is still predominantly focused on staff administration responsibilities like leave, payroll and disciplinary actions. These responsibilities must be catered for, but progressive employment environments have transitioned to the future of work where HR becomes people focused around talent selection, talent management, with clear company vision and values which contributes positively to the overall company culture,” he said. Getihu is investing in this opportunity via its stake in Hi5. The startup helps managers get rich insights about
