Investment Team
The investment team, including principals, senior investment managers and analysts, is based in Cape Town, South Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Mauritius and in London, UK.
The team offers over 100 years collective track record in private equity and venture capital investing, technology and sustainability.
This experience includes numerous clean energy and resource efficiency market segments such as solar, wind, fuel cells, biogas, biofuels, energy efficiency, waste and water investments.
The dynamic investment advisory team has built a demonstrable track record with multi-sector credentials within the specialised lens of clean energy infrastructure development platforms and related infrastructure, and resource efficiency growth or expansion equity markets
Christopher Clarke
Managing Partner
Rustmo1 Solar Farm
2011
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/rustmo-solar-farm/
SlimSun
2012
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/slimsun/
Kouga Wind Farm
2012
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/redcap/
AFPOC
2012
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/afpoc/
Red Cap Kouga Wind Development Company
2010
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/red-cap-kouga-wind-development-company/
SlimSun Too
2012
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/slimsun-too/
Gibson Bay Wind Farm
2013
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/gibson-bay-wind-farm/
Alten RE Developments Africa B.V.
2018
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/alten-re-developments-africa-b-v/
Christopher is a Managing Partner and an Investment Committee member of the Evolution I and II funds. In 2007/8 Christopher co-founded Inspired Evolution and the Evolution I Fund, a USD90 million southern African renewable energy and sustainability PE fund.
Christopher led the team on the renewable energy portfolio under Evolution I comprising over 918 MW from origination, through execution, construction management and exits. He also assumes responsibility for the fund’s ESG and sustainability impact investment performance. Christopher is a regular speaker and panelist on regional energy infrastructure and PE conference platforms.
Christopher is a professional engineer, entrepreneur and finance professional with more than 23 years of local and regional engineering, technology innovation, private equity, business development and corporate entrepreneurial experience. He is an experienced clean energy infrastructure (project finance) investor.
His experience spans start-up enterprise development and management, project development finance, environmental planning, sustainability strategy, and corporate governance.
Christopher holds a BSc Engineering degree (cum laude) and a Masters in Environmental Science: Sustainability, both from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Christopher also holds a Foundation and Advanced Private Equity qualification from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Wayne Keast
Managing Partner
Abagold
2010
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/abagold/
EnviroServ Waste Management
2010
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/enviroserv/
Sirac Southern Africa
2013
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/sirac/
Wayne is a Managing Partner and an Investment Committee member of Evolution I and II funds. In 2007/8 Wayne co-founded Inspired Evolution and the Evolution I Fund, a USD90 million southern African renewable energy and sustainability PE fund. Wayne was actively involved in the origination, management and exits of all 12 investments made under Evolution I.
Wayne is a finance professional with more than 20 years of international private equity, corporate and operational finance experience. He is an experienced venture, growth equity and infrastructure (project finance) investor.
Previously, whilst at Consensus Business Group, Wayne was a founding partner and an Investment Committee member of the USD250 million Masdar Cleantech Fund (located in Abu Dhabi, London and New York). This fund focused on global energy-related technologies and companies with a strategic nexus to Abu Dhabi. Wayne also established a USD500 million global investment programme focused on the cleaner energy and sustainability sectors, and oversaw all strategic and financial investments made within the renewable energy and sustainability sectors across Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Israel, UK, USA, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Wayne also gained deep experience while at ePartners, in the financial management of global technology private equity investment platforms, and corporate finance and development. This included the establishment and acquisition of 22 new businesses in South Africa. Wayne was a main board director on several companies including three companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Wayne holds both a Bachelors and an Honours degree in Finance and Accounting Science (BCompt Hons) from the University of South Africa. He is a Chartered Accountant CA (SA) and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW).
Wade de Jager
Independent non-executive Chairman of the investment committee
Wade is the independent non-executive Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Evolution One Fund. Wade plays a crucial independent role in providing strategic investment advice and guiding the funds investment decisions as part of the Fund’s sound corporate governance strategy. Between 1998 and 2006 Wade was Director and Head of Private Equity at Standard Bank’s Private Equity unit. His unit was responsible for providing mezzanine and equity finance for acquisitions/buy-outs and expansion capital for businesses.
James Eedes
Deal Principal: Head of Project Finance
Alten RE Developments Africa B.V.
2018
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/alten-re-developments-africa-b-v/
James heads the project finance transaction team for Inspired Evolution as a senior investment manager with the business. James is an experienced renewable energy sector specialist, having successfully developed, invested in and acted as transaction advisor to utility-scale projects in South African and Europe, from project inception through financing, construction, operation and exit.
In 2009, James co-founded Leadwood Capital, a boutique investment and advisory firm focused on the renewable energy and independent power sector in South Africa. In this capacity, James led or directly supported equity and debt financings totalling ZAR8.3 billion in South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), comprising four wind projects (466 MWs) and one solar PV project (5.6MW). In addition, to being closely involved in the growth of South Africa’s IPP project financing market, James was instrumental in structuring Black Economic Empowerment transactions in the sector.
In 2010, James co-founded and is a director of Eurocape Renewables, which is a developer of wind and solar PV projects across South Africa. Alongside partners, the company was an early-stage investor and remains a shareholder in the 80MW Kouga Wind Farm.
In 2014, James advised the South African majority-owner consortium on the Banie Wind Project (192MW) in Poland, ultimately resulting in a sale of the construction-ready project. Prior to returning to South Africa in 2009, James gained further European experience working for Korral Partners, an advisory firm specialising in capital raisings for European project developers.
James holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and a Masters of Business Administration from Imperial College London, United Kingdom.
Steven Faure
Deal Principal
Abagold
2010
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/abagold/
Demeter Organic Fertilisers
2011
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/acapulco/
EnviroServ Waste Management
2010
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/enviroserv/
Fifth Season Investments
2013
Clean Energy Infrastructure
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/fifth-season-investment/
Sirac Southern Africa
2013
Growth Equity
https://inspiredevolution.co.za/companies/sirac/
Steven is an investment professional with more than 10 years’ experience in investment banking, spanning private equity and equity derivative markets. He is an experienced venture, growth equity and infrastructure investor.
In 2008 Steven joined Inspired Evolution as an investment associate and has progressed to become a senior deal team principal within the business.
Steven was intimately involved in Evolution I fund's portfolio construction, providing analytic support to the deal principals. Steven has played a key role in the full execution and management of the investments from deal origination, financial modelling, operational and sector analysis, valuation, deal negotiation and structuring, due diligence, negotiation of legal agreements and post investment monitoring and exit. He has further been involved in the structuring of transactions with complex investment structures, from structured loans to preference share instruments.
Prior to moving to Cape Town and gaining valuable experience in the private equity sector in Africa sourcing and evaluating growth companies across numerous sectors (including Agriculture, Property and Clean Energy), Steven was an investment professional based in London. He worked for Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital in London within their respective global equities derivative business units, covering credit, interest and equity swaps, and futures and options. Steven provided analytical trade support, trade and client dispute resolution, and operational risk mitigation support within the business units.
Steven holds Bachelors and Honours degrees in Economic Sciences from Stellenbosch University and an MBA (cum laude) from Stellenbosch Business School.
Neill Pienaar
Financial Manager
Neill is the Financial Manager at Inspired Evolution. His primary responsibilities include the day-to-day financial administration and management of fund advisors, general partners and Evolution I and II funds, in conjunction with Maitland as fund administrator. Neill has 10 years’ post articles experience within the financial services sector in both South Africa and London. Neill began his career at KPMG in Johannesburg within the Financial Services department. He completed his articles and remained on as an audit manager. In 2011, Neill moved to London where he worked as a product controller at Goldman Sachs in the Syndetic Products Group. He also worked at Aspect Capital, a $7bn investment manager, as a financial manager. Upon returning to South Africa, he joined the 138.6MW Cookhouse Wind Farm project team operating out of Cape Town as the financial manager. More recently, he worked at Arx Pangaia, an independent asset management and multi-family office group for ultra-high net worth individuals, where he was responsible for finance, risk and compliance across various entities. Neill holds a BAccounting degree from Stellenbosch University and Post-Graduate Diploma in Accounting from University of Cape Town. He is a Chartered Accountant CA (SA). Neill has completed all three levels of the CFA exams. Neill has completed the coursework and is currently writing his thesis to obtain a M Com (South Africa Taxation) from University of Cape Town.
Joseph Waiganjo Mwaura
Deal Principal- East Africa
Joseph is an experienced finance professional, with over 8 years' experience in investments, senior consulting, transaction services and project finance in East Africa. He has worked on assignments in the financial services, infrastructure, and energy sectors. Joseph has been involved in the development of a financing model for the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation EEPCO which was a requirement under a financing credit agreement with The Agence Francaise De Development (AFD) as a condition for financing the 120MW Ashegoda Wind Park. This also demanded an intensive review of the country’s entire power generation projects focusing on hydro, wind, solar and co-generation. Further he has been involved in the privatization mandate of Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) – a transaction advisory mandate with the Privatisation Commission of Kenya on the proposed further privatization of KenGen. He also developed and set up a valuation model for one of the region’s largest fiber optic cable infrastructure company. Joseph is an ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Finalist and holds a BSC (Hons) in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University as well as a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He is currently undertaking a Master’s of Science in Development Finance from Strathmore University Business School, Kenya.
Marike Fourie
Environmental and Social Officer
Marike is an environmental specialist with more than 11 years’ experience in risk assessment, sustainable development, and integrated environmental management. Marike is dedicated to the coordination and management of the company and its funds’ Environmental and Social (E&S) compliance, reporting and impact strategy through inter alia implementing and continually improving its Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) specializing in sustainable development and environmental management. Marike worked as an environmental consultant for Digby Wells Environmental where she gained extensive experience in the mining sector across Africa, including Sierra Leone (diamonds), Mali (gold), Botswana (coal), Namibia (uranium), Senegal (gold) and South Africa (coal). As the environmental consultant, Marike was mainly responsible for environmental risk assessments, auditing, and implementation of management plants. In 2013, Marike joined ABSA Bank (Barclays Africa) as environmental credit risk manager in the Specialised Finance Team, part of the Corporate Investment Banking (CIB) division situate in Sandton. Marike gained experience to large-scale investments and risk assessments relating to Equator Principles (EP), International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards and was responsible for the environmental and social risk management of the wholesale credit risk lending portfolio. While working for ABSA (Barclays Africa), Marike won the global internal competition, Pitch In, aimed at innovative business development and community development across Africa.Marike holds a BHCS (Honours) degree from the University of Johannesburg and a Master’s degree from the University of Pretoria,
Omid Alimia
Senior Financial Analyst
Omid is an engineer turned investment professional, with 6 years of experience in the broader energy space. He joined the Inspired Evolution team in August 2018 as a Senior Financial Analyst. Omid’s career began at Sasol, South Africa’s largest integrated energy company, in 2011 in the project delivery division of the business responsible for large capital projects. During his four years at Sasol, he worked in roles in the client engineering office, engineering management, and project management. After his return to South Africa in mid-2016, Omid moved into private equity sector – spending two years working as an Analyst in the deal team at Lereko Metier Sustainable Capital. In his role as an Analyst, Omid worked across a variety of renewable energy transactions, across different technologies, spanning the African continent. He also supported the deal team with the ongoing maintenance of portfolio companies. Omid completed his Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 2010. He also obtained an MBA from INSEAD in France/Singapore in 2015.
Tasneem Suliman
Office Manager
Tasneem is the Office Manager at Inspired Evolution. Her primary responsibilities include front desk, office management, client and investor liaison, corporate secretarial, HR and compliance assistance for the fund. Tasneem’s experience has been gained primarily from working for leading South African Institutions, Investec Private Bank where she worked as an international banking specialist and at WWF where she held executive assistant positions in the International Climate and Energy Division, Conservation in Africa and Trust Administrator on the WWF- SA Green Trust portfolio in the South African office. Tasneem holds a higher certificate in Business and Project Management from UCT Business School.
Yuvraj Persand
Compliance and Corporate Governance Officer
Yuvraj joined Inspired Evolution as Compliance & Corporate Governance Officer focusing on anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-client (KYC) and corporate governance compliance. Yuvraj has in-depth knowledge of the relevant Mauritian and international laws, regulations and guidelines governing compliance. Prior to his appointment at Inspired Evolution, Yuvraj was part of the compliance team of Maitland Mauritius Limited where he was involved in daily compliance matters. Yuvraj's experience covers internal audit and forensic investigations covering various industry sectors including financial Institution, logistics and freight services, global business (offshore) sectors and the insurance sector where he started his career as legal assistant. Yuvraj holds Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of London and a Master of Law (LLM) from the BBP University, London, specialising in Transnational Criminal Justice.
Bee Gajudhur
Finance and Admin Officer
Bee Gajudhur joined Inspired Evolution as the Finance and Admin Officer with more than fifteen years’ experience in the accountancy field. Bee has sound knowledge in administration and operations of GBL 1, 2 , local trusts, CIS funds and companies in Mauritius. Prior to his appointment at Inspired Evolution, Bee was part of the Private Client transactional services at Maitland Mauritius Limited where he was involved in managing portfolios of companies with varying level of complexity, including trust and funds. Bee’s experience covers portfolio management and management accounts in the financial sectors. Bee holds an Advanced Business French Certificate from the Paris Chamber of Commerce.
