Techcrunch reports that Synthasite, the browser based website builder that is backed by Vinny Lingham has raised $5 million in a Series A investment round from Swiss based Columbus Venture Capital. You can find more details on Vinny's blog and a formal press release here.
This is great news for the Cape Town based Synthasite, which launched into beta two weeks ago, and good news for South African startups in general. They have proved that it is possible to get decent VC for a South African startup, but that it is much easier when you have a professional product with unique features and global appeal. So many current SA startups are clones or variations on international ideas, and our local internet population is not large enough to justify the kind of investments that these startups are looking for.
Congratulations to Vinny Lingham and the Synthasite team