About Us

Laura Deering has spent almost 20 years in the investment industry, including 16 years in private equity. 

Since co-founding Intaba Capital in January 2019, Laura has advised numerous clients across a range of industries and investment opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Europe.  Laura has provided transaction management support, performed financial and commercial due diligences on behalf of incoming investors, assisted businesses with the creation and development of business plans, and advised on business development and capital raisings.  She has also utilised her distressed investing experience to advise businesses on balance sheet restructuring. 

In addition, from July 2021 onwards, Laura was the PMO lead for B4SA’s Covid-19 national vaccine rollout as B4SA, in partnership and in support of the South African government, co-ordinated the entire private sector’s Covid-19 vaccine response.  She continues to provide PMO services to B4SA as required on specific projects.

Laura has 16 years private equity experience, the majority of which gained with a London-based PE fund, where she worked on stressed and distressed investment opportunities across multiple industries and geographies including Western and Eastern Europe, West Africa and the Far East. She has significant transactional experience, alongside extensive experience in the management of portfolio companies and the execution of the exit process, and was appointed to the board as the shareholder representative in 3 of the fund’s investments.  Prior to this, she spent 4 years in a London-based hedge fund, analysing and investing in distressed debt and other special situations, primarily in Europe.

Laura holds a BA(Hons) in Economics with Maths from the University of Durham, UK, and is a CFA Charterholder. 

Ewa Harcourt-Wood has spent the past 16 years in the broader investment industry, including 10 years in private equity and venture capital.

Since co-founding Intaba Capital in January 2019, Ewa has inter alia advised numerous clients (from listed blue-chip corporates to foundations) on investments and M&A transactions, has performed financial and commercial due diligences on behalf of incoming investors, and assisted clients with fundraising, detailed financial modelling, costing analysis and balance sheet restructuring. 

In addition, Ewa has concluded numerous bespoke on-balance sheet investments on behalf of Intaba. 

Before founding Intaba, Ewa spent 5 years in a private equity firm as a principal in the deal team. During her time she worked on and concluded a number of successful transactions across multiple sectors and geographies in South Africa and Eastern Europe. Further to this, she reviewed over 100 potential transactions spanning different sectors in South Africa, Africa and Central Eastern Europe, was tasked with a number of value-enhancing projects at portfolio companies and assisted with various exit strategies, including IPOs. 

Ewa started her career in Investment Banking at Standard Bank, where she spent the first 3 years in equity derivatives trading, followed by 3 years in equity research covering the small cap sector on the JSE spanning numerous industries. During her time in equity research she attained a #1 FM rating for her sector.

Ewa holds a BSc in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics and a BCom in Investment Management (Cum Laude, Golden Key Society Member) from the University of Pretoria, and is also a CFA Charterholder.