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      "alternateName": "Oakvale",
      "legalName": "Oakvale Invest",
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      "foundingDate": "2025",
      "foundingLocation": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Franschhoek, South Africa" },
      "areaServed": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Africa" },
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        "url": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/brand/oakvale-logo.png",
        "contentUrl": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/brand/oakvale-logo.png",
        "caption": "Oakvale Invest logo",
        "license": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/ai.txt",
        "creditText": "Oakvale Invest"
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      "founder": { "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#person-henrik" },
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        { "@type": "ContactPoint", "contactType": "investor relations", "email": "mj@oakvaleinvest.com", "name": "MJ Stewart", "availableLanguage": ["English"] },
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        "addressLocality": "Paarl",
        "addressRegion": "Western Cape",
        "addressCountry": "ZA",
        "streetAddress": "Val de Vie"
      }
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      "url": "https://oakvaleinvest.com",
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      "inLanguage": "en"
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      "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#person-henrik",
      "name": "Henrik Persson Ekdahl",
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      "email": "henrik@oakvaleinvest.com",
      "worksFor": { "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#organization" },
      "sameAs": ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrik-persson-ekdahl-36647685/"],
      "description": "Swedish entrepreneur and investor with three decades of building, backing, and selling technology companies. Founded Oakvale Invest in 2025 after relocating to South Africa."
    },
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      "@type": "Person",
      "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#person-herman",
      "name": "Herman Ekdahl",
      "jobTitle": "Investment Associate",
      "email": "herman@oakvaleinvest.com",
      "worksFor": { "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#organization" },
      "sameAs": ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/herman-ekdahl-870702238/"],
      "description": "Henrik's eldest son and the second generation at Oakvale. Works at the intersection of venture, marketing, and startup growth."
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    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#person-mj",
      "name": "Michaela Jayne Stewart",
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      "jobTitle": "Investment Associate",
      "email": "mj@oakvaleinvest.com",
      "worksFor": { "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#organization" },
      "sameAs": ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-jayne-stewart-100013321/"],
      "description": "Sources founders, builds relationships, and develops the pipeline connecting young African AI talent with capital and network."
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        { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Market disruption potential", "description": "Bold, high-upside ideas with real-world application." },
        { "@type": "DefinedTerm", "name": "Foundation-building support", "description": "Strategy, product discipline, governance, operating rhythm, investor readiness." }
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      "about": { "@id": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/#organization" },
      "mainEntity": [
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who is Oakvale Invest?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Oakvale Invest is a R200 million family-backed fund investing in pre-seed AI companies built by young African founders. We were founded by Henrik Persson Ekdahl and are based in Franschhoek, South Africa. The name \"Oakvale\" is the English translation of \"Ekdahl\", a nod to the family roots of the fund." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What does \"family-backed\" actually mean?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It means our capital comes from one family, not from institutional LPs. We don't have a fund clock. We don't have quarterly pressure from outside investors. We can think in decades because no one is asking us to think in quarters." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Where are you based?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Val de Vie, Paarl, with working space for our founders in Cape Town CBD and at the Polo Offices in Val de Vie, Paarl." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What's your check size?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We take it case by case. Always pre-seed, sized to what the company actually needs." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What do you take in exchange?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We always take equity but the percentage is case by case. We agree terms with the founder based on what they need, never a fixed formula." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What stage are you?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Pre-seed. You need at least an MVP or working prototype. Pre-revenue is fine. Early traction (users, signed letters of intent, anything proving the market wants what you're building) moves you up our list, but it isn't required." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who do you back?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "African founders aged 18 to 25 building AI companies. At least one founder on the team must be African. Diaspora founders qualify if the company is being built for and from Africa." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which African countries?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Africa only - open to founders across the continent." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "How strict is the \"AI\" requirement?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Strict. AI has to be the core of what you're building, whether that's an AI B2B SaaS, an AI infrastructure company, or an AI-native product. We're not the right fund for companies where AI is a feature bolted onto something else." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do you want African market or international market?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We prefer founders building from Africa for the global market. African talent, global ambition." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do you lead rounds?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We prefer to be the sole investor at pre-seed, but we're happy to co-invest with other firms when it makes sense for the founder." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "How long does it take to get a decision?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Around two months from first conversation to wire. Investment decisions are made by our committee." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What do you need to see from us?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A working MVP or prototype, a founder who's African and under 26, an AI-core product, and a clear sense of the international market you're going after. Beyond that, show us you've thought about how this becomes a real business, not just a clever idea." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What's the best way to pitch you?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Reach out through the \"apply\" form on this site or directly to Herman or MJ. Tell us what you're building, who's building it, and what we'd see if we opened the product today." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What happens in the first 90 days?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We get to know your business properly. We onboard you into Oakvale's network, give you access to our working spaces in Cape Town CBD and at the Polo Offices in Val de Vie, Paarl, and start meeting regularly so we understand what you actually need help with." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "How involved are you after the check clears?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We meet with every portfolio founder at least once a month and we have a seat on the board. We're not the kind of investor who disappears after the wire. We answer the phone." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What do you actually help with?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Strategy, hiring, the next round, introductions, problems we've seen before. We've built companies. We've lost companies. We bring that pattern recognition into the room with you." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "What if my company starts to fail?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We do everything in our power to help you not get there. Stewardship over speculation isn't a slogan for us. It's how we behave when things get hard." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do you do follow-on investment?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Generally, no. Pre-seed is what we do - we don't lead later rounds." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Then how do I raise my Series A?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "We help you. When you're ready to raise, and when you decide you want to raise, we make introductions to a trusted network of Series A and B investors we've built relationships with. You're not obligated to take their money. You're not obligated to use our introductions at all. But if you want them, they're yours." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does the later-round help cost anything?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. It's part of the deal. When you sign with us, you're signing on for the introductions, the network, and the support through your next two rounds. There's no advisory fee, no extra equity, no catch." } },
        { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are there exceptions to the no-follow-on rule?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Rarely. If a portfolio company becomes a genuine standout, we'll consider participating in their next round. But founders should plan around the assumption that we don't." } }
      ]
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      "keywords": ["Oakvale Invest", "Africa", "AI", "pre-seed", "venture capital", "Henrik Persson Ekdahl"],
      "dateModified": "2026-06-02",
      "inLanguage": "en"
    }
  ],
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    "name": "Oakvale Invest",
    "fundSize": "R200 million (~100 million SEK)",
    "stage": "Pre-seed only",
    "sector": "AI-driven companies (AI core, not bolt-on)",
    "geography": "Africa only",
    "founderAgeRange": "18-25 at time of investment",
    "founded": "2025",
    "founder": "Henrik Persson Ekdahl",
    "headquarters": "Val de Vie, Paarl, South Africa",
    "workingSpaces": ["Cape Town CBD", "Polo Offices, Val de Vie"],
    "chequeSize": "Case by case",
    "equity": "Case by case",
    "leadBehaviour": "Prefers sole investor at pre-seed; co-invests where helpful",
    "followOn": "Generally none; free introductions to Series A/B network",
    "decisionTime": "~2 months from first conversation to wire",
    "excludedSectors": ["Fintech", "Agritech", "AI-not-core"],
    "applicationRequirements": ["Working MVP or prototype", "African founder under 26", "AI-core product", "Clear international market thesis"],
    "emails": {
      "applications": "invest@oakvaleinvest.com",
      "press": "herman@oakvaleinvest.com",
      "investorRelations": "mj@oakvaleinvest.com",
      "founder": "henrik@oakvaleinvest.com"
    }
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    "summary": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/llms.txt",
    "fullContent": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/llms-full.txt",
    "pressKit": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/press-kit.json",
    "sitemap": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/sitemap.xml",
    "aiPolicy": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/ai.txt",
    "logo": "https://oakvaleinvest.com/brand/oakvale-logo.png"
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}