Pharos Fund

A billion lives for the better. House of Pharos is a venture house drawing its name from the lighthouse in the city of Alexandria. In a sense, our name means “House of Light”, which speaks to our mission of being more than just capital allocation and startup development - it’s the very idea of value genesis, that first spark of inspiration and the mad hope that it might just succeed. It all starts with that lightbulb moment before setting out for unknown shores. In more practical terms, Pharos is a deep tech, first principals, hands-on venture house, working with (and sometimes finding) founders who are building the future, with the goal of directly impacting a billion lives for the better. Pharos was born out of a United Nations Development Programme strategy lab, on the same day of the President of South Africa’s Inauguration. From the meeting, the UNDP’s 2024 Signals Spotlight with the theme of “Hope for All” was published, and Pharos took its first steps in establishing itself. It is our belief that startups are the greatest vehicle for the rapid development of solutions. Solutions that not only solve the most urgent challenges facing humanity, but also define what our collective future can be, on earth and beyond, as we take our ventures and ambitions beyond the confines of our home planet. Our thesis is broadly aligned to the UNDP sustainable development goals, with special interest in: 1. Biotech and healthtech, including longevity 2. Environmental and water sustainability, resource management, agritech and climate tech 3. Energy 4. Space Exploration 5. Infrastructure and property 6. Cybersecurity and fraud prevention 7. Defence 8. Conflict mitigation, particularly as a result of resource scarcity and management