Southern Skies is delighted to announce that Wineland-based private investment company, Yela Partners, has acquired a stake in Southern Skies.
Australian entrepreneur and founder of Southern Skies, Andrew Douglas says: “We are proud to welcome Yela to the team. Their investment provides meaningful growth capital and the required runway for Southern Skies to take flight on a number of exciting new acquisitions designed to activate and enable South African wine producers. We look forward to making further announcements in due course.”
Yela Partners was founded in 2013 through the coming together of two entrepreneurs from North and South Africa. Arnold Scholtz, Managing Director of Yela Partners, is also Director of well-known Helderberg-based professional services firm group ASL.
Says Scholtz, “We are delighted to partner with Southern Skies. The SA wine industry is undoubtedly the biggest “impact industry” for the Western Cape – being the largest employer, contributor to GDP and exporter from the region. We share Andrew’s vision to enable our world class Wine Producers and support his ambitions for building a stronger, more prosperous wine industry for all”.
Yela has a number of investments in South Africa including Tiny Keg, the largest mobile beverage canning business servicing both the wine and beer categories, and Naude Wines – a much loved Stellenbosch boutique winery. 80% of Tiny Keg’s production is canned wine.
About Yela Partners
Yela Partners was founded in 2013 through the coming together of Arnold Scholtz and George Haggar. The pair have had prior experience and exposure through their involvement in a number of entrepreneurial enterprises spread over the African continent and the Middle East.
Bringing the dreams of Northern and Southern Africa together, Yela Partners is a growth partner for aspiring businesses.
In South Africa Yela has key strategic investments in the healthcare, property, manufacturing, and wine industries.
For more information visit www.yelapartners.com.
About Southern Skies Investment Holdings
Southern Skies is 100% focused on delivering high impact sales, marketing and business intelligence solutions to the SA wine industry. They focus on five key pillars, including E-commerce, Content, Research, Loyalty/Rewards, and Export.
Southern Skies acquired The Wine Show in 2014 and has grown the event to become the largest consumer try-and-buy wine gatherings in South Africa, touring to seven cities and connecting over 200 wine producers with 30 000 wine enthusiasts each year.
In 2020, Southern Skies launched the Great BIG Wine Survey and in 2021 founded Vintelligence – South Africa’s first dedicated wine consumer research firm.
In 2021 Southern Skies acquired industry stalwart, SA wine marketing/media and “wine online” pioneer, wine.co.za as well as leading wine e-commerce storefront solution CellarDirect.
For more information visit www.ssih.co.za.