Portfolio Analyst

• A leading venture capital firm is seeking a Portfolio Analyst to join their Cape Town-based team, offering you the opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping investment and operating decisions across a diverse portfolio of high-growth, technology-enabled businesses. This position is ideal for someone who thrives on transforming complex, imperfect company information into actionable insights that drive value creation and strategic support.

What you'll do:

As a Portfolio Analyst, you will immerse yourself in the world of venture capital analytics by turning messy company information into clear investment recommendations.

• Analyse portfolio company financials, KPIs, board packs, budgets, and strategic plans to surface key quantitative and strategic implications for decision-making.
• Prepare concise decision briefs for portfolio reviews, partner conversations, valuation discussions, reserve planning, and capital allocation decisions that inform leadership.
• Build and maintain robust financial models supporting portfolio reviews, valuation discussions, follow-on investment analysis, reserve planning, and performance assessments.
• Contribute quantitative inputs to follow-on and valuation discussions by organising evidence, stress-testing assumptions, and clarifying trade-offs for optimal outcomes.
• Identify recurring themes across the portfolio such as growth bottlenecks, cash pressure points, margin quality issues, execution risks, and operating constraints.
• Support portfolio company growth conversations by providing research and insight into potential markets, new trends, business models, competitive dynamics, and benchmarks.
• Conduct company, market, and industry analysis relevant to portfolio company strategy, growth planning or follow-on investment decisions.
• Operate and manage AI-driven intelligence platforms including bots and automated workflows that support reporting systems and portfolio monitoring.
• Design and maintain automated workflows that reduce manual data work while increasing speed, accuracy, and reliability of portfolio insights.
• Convert recurring portfolio analysis tasks into repeatable systems such as templates, trackers, dashboards or AI-supported workflows.

What you bring:

• Degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Computer Science, Finance, Business Science, or a related quantitative field.
• CFA, CA(SA), or a postgraduate finance qualification would be advantageous.
• 3-8 years' experience in investment management, corporate finance, private equity, venture capital, consulting, data analytics, or a similar analytical environment.
• Strong financial modelling skills, with the ability to build, analyse, and stress-test models from first principles.
• Experience conducting company, market, industry, or investment analysis, with exposure to AI tools, automation, and data platforms.
• Interest in early-stage businesses, technology-driven companies, or African venture markets is beneficial.
• Ability to work with complex or incomplete datasets and derive meaningful insights.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex findings clearly.
• Collaborative approach with the ability to work effectively across multiple stakeholders and workstreams.
• Passion for technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and impact-driven investing.