About

Two operators. One disciplined approach to ownership.

Independent Sponsors is led by its founders, who invest alongside every transaction and stay personally involved in the businesses they back.

Bruce Chelius

Co-Founder · CA(SA) · CFA

Bruce has more than twenty years' experience in business, private equity and venture capital investing. He previously worked in the private equity teams at SCMB and BoE Bank, and most recently ran a PE and VC fund for the Collins family office.

His involvement spans the full investment process — sourcing, screening, negotiation, due diligence, legal implementation, ongoing management, strategy, and running exit processes. During his career he has gained operational experience by actively managing investee companies, and governance experience as a director of listed and unlisted companies, having served on and chaired all board sub-committees. He currently supports a portfolio company with its global expansion as part-time CFO.

Rob Katzen

Co-Founder · CA(SA)

Rob spent seven years in senior corporate finance roles before becoming financial director and then business development director of JSE-listed AVI Limited, where he served as a main board director of AVI and its subsidiaries — gaining broad industry experience and deep exposure to the governance demands of listed corporates.

For the past eleven years he has helped small and medium-sized recovery and growth businesses reach their potential, as an investor and in hands-on management and strategic advisory roles. This has given him extensive deal-making experience and a strong track record of building relationships with owner-managed and entrepreneurial businesses.

Why we do this

The thinking behind the firm.

Independent Sponsors was established by Bruce Chelius and Rob Katzen to source, structure, and manage select private equity and venture capital opportunities that offer superior returns over the medium term. We invest deal-by-deal alongside our partners, taking an active role in the businesses we back — bringing the financial discipline, governance, and operational experience built over decades of investing and managing companies.

Let's talk.

Whether you're an owner, an adviser, or a capital partner — we'd welcome the conversation.

Get in touch