The group's venture studio closed its first investment from the venture programme: Squirrel Away, a fintech that lets family and friends invest in a child's future from R10.
Yenza Venture Studio has closed the first investment from its venture programme, taking a stake in Squirrel Away, a South African fintech that is changing how families think about gifting.
Squirrel Away lets a parent create a profile for a child and invite family and friends to contribute to an ETF-based investment portfolio, from as little as R10, instead of buying another toy. The app launched publicly in July 2025.
Yenza was set up in December 2024 to give early-stage founders what most of them cannot afford in the first year: hardware, software and IoT engineering, shared accounting, HR and legal services, mentorship and a route to seed capital. Squirrel Away came through that programme, and the group’s engineers continue to work alongside the founding team.
