The R650,000 investment that became R300 million

Curro founder Chris van der Merwe said he bought back 1% of his company from Naspers for R650,000, which later grew to R300 million.

He shared the story of Naspers’ investment in Curro during a discussion at the 2026 Biznews Conference in Hermanus on 11 March 2026.

Van der Merwe, who started his career as a primary school teacher, had big dreams about improving education in South Africa.

In 1998, he joined forces with Thys Franken, Eddie Conradie, and Eduard Ungerer to start a new private school.

He used his R240,000 severance package to launch the first Curro school, with 28 pupils, on church-leased premises in Durbanville.

Their private school concept worked, but they needed money to open additional schools and take the model to the next level.

Van der Merwe approached Naspers CEO Koos Bekker in 2005 to invest in Curro and provide additional funding for growth.

He described Bekker as highly intelligent and well-informed, and their shared appreciation for deep research was what drew Bekker to the project.

Van der Merwe discussed his studies and his understanding of education with Bekker before the Naspers CEO moved to the next level.

Naspers, through Educor, bought a 20% stake in Curro and helped the company to develop a vision for creating 20 schools.

Educor also assisted Curro by providing them with data specialists to help determine the best geographic locations for expansion.

Educor assisted Curro with building its new Roodeplaat school in the north of Pretoria, which significantly expanded the company’s size.

Van der Merwe buys back his shares from Educor

A few years after Naspers’ investment in Curro, there was a strategic change at the company that was a pivotal moment for Van der Merwe.

Following Naspers’ landmark investment in Tencent, Bekker decided to sell off smaller companies that did not fit the new technology focus.

What followed, Van der Merwe said, showed what a great person Bekker is. “He helped us to build Curro Roodeplaat and get to the fourth school,” he said.

When Bekker decided to sell Educor’s stake in Curro, he proposed a deal which was much better than Van der Merwe expected.

“We said I should go to my partners and ask them whether they would be willing to give their cash back,” he said.

“Bekker gave us the opportunity to buy our shares back at the same price as the valuation when Curro only had one-and-a-half schools.”

Although it was an excellent deal, it was still difficult for Van der Merwe to dig into his savings to buy back the Educor stake.

“It was the most difficult cheque of R650,000 that I, as a teacher, had to withdraw from my Absa account for 1% of my company,” he said.

However, this was one of the best investments Van der Merwe ever made. “That 1% that I bought back for R650,000 grew to nearly R300 million,” he said.