A South African High Court has provisionally liquidated venture firm 54 Collective following allegations from the Mastercard Foundation of serious financial misconduct and “blatant disregard for the law,” involving a $106.5 million charitable grant, court documents obtained by Condia have shown. The foundation had disbursed over $42 million to the firm, originally registered as Africa Founders Ventures NPC (AFV), across 2023 and 2024.
The provisional liquidation order implies that an independent party will now take over the company’s affairs while the court decides if it should be permanently shut down. The court also froze more than a dozen accounts held at Nedbank, Standard Bank, and Investec, citing concerns over improper fund…