Libstar Nova is the company’s incubator project, committed to working alongside entrepreneurs to help nurture the businesses they built and scale them at an accelerated pace.

Bringing top talent into the Libstar fold

Johan Greeff, chief growth officer for Libstar, says, “Libstar Nova takes us back to the roots of how we were originally founded. By partnering with local entrepreneurs, we can move into adjacent categories, explore new innovations, and access core capabilities and talent. Most importantly, we can leverage all our resources and expertise to be a real catalyst for growth for South African small businesses. That’s our aim. We want these businesses to fly. That’s what sets Libstar Nova apart and gets to the heart of what our family is all about.”

Greeff says that targeting innovative entrepreneurs brings top talent into the Libstar fold. “Our entrepreneurial value is to innovate boldly and work tirelessly. By seeking people who have already built successful ventures, we typically find individuals whose values and tenacity match our own. As a business with a family philosophy, we’re also after family-run ventures. Umatie ticks both boxes.”

Umatie acquisition

The division’s first acquisition, which occurred this year, is that of Umatie, a South African family-focused baby and children food brand.

Umatie was founded by two sisters, Anna Olivier and Judi de Jongh, in 2012. When De Jongh was little, she couldn’t pronounce ‘tamatie’, so she’d ask her mom for an ‘umatie’ – hence the name. When Olivier’s first baby started solids, Olivier delighted in making her special dishes to try. Seeing how much her baby loved the food, Olivier and De Jongh decided to share these tasty meals with other babies.

Leaning on their shared passion for good food, the sisters birthed the Umatie brand, which aims to make weaning effortless and help busy parents ‘buy’ back time to spend with their families.

Courtesy of Bizcommunity – read full article here.