Yusuf Khumalo

S

Principal at Hawthorn Seed Fund · hardware, climate tech

Hawthorn Seed Fund
Cape Town, South Africa · SAST (UTC+2)
9+ years experience
Ashesi University
English, Afrikaans
Messaging unavailable

Overview

I invest in climate at Hawthorn Seed Fund, usually at pre-seed and seed. Previously an operator for 7 years before investing. Backed 13 founders at pre-seed and seed. Most at home with climate tech and venture capital. I volunteer with a food bank on weekends.

Good reasons to reach out
  • Second opinions on venture capital decisions
  • Thoughtful intros to people in my field
Please don't message about
  • Unpaid work or spec projects
  • Offshore staffing offers
  • SEO and link-building offers

Usually replies within a day

Skills
energyhardwareclimate techventure capital

Experience

  1. Principal
    Nov 2025 - Present
    Hawthorn Seed Fund · 11 mo · Full-time · Cape Town, South Africa
    • Backed 25 founders at pre-seed and seed.
    • Previously an operator for 5 years before investing.
  2. Consultant
    Nov 2022 - Nov 2025
    Meta · 3 yr · Full-time · Cape Town, South Africa
    • Led a cost programme that saved a client $128 million.
  3. Associate Partner
    Feb 2019 - Nov 2022
    Naspers · 3 yr 9 mo · Full-time · Cape Town, South Africa
    • Wrote the hardware service that now handles 29 million requests a day.
  4. Engagement Manager
    Oct 2017 - Feb 2019
    MTN · 1 yr 4 mo · Full-time · Cape Town, South Africa
    • Ran commercial diligence on 22 deals.

References

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Education

  1. Ashesi University
    BSc, Engineering
    2012 - 2016

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