SeedStars Africa Ventures I, a venture capital fund making early-stage investments in highly scalable start-ups in Africa, has announced the close of a $42 million raise.
The fund, with offices in:
- Nairobi
- Dakar and
- Paris
has further secured $50 million in commitments towards an $80 million fundraising target. The milestone was announced at the 2024 Africa Investment Forum Market Days currently underway in Rabat.
According to SeedStars, Africa Ventures I is tackling the lack of early-stage financing across Africa by investing up to $2 million in seed and Series A rounds, with the potential for follow-on investments up to $5 million. This approach bridges the gap in available capital, the venture firm says. By leading subsequent investment rounds, the fund will encourage co-investment and provide operational support to startups.
The fund has already invested more than $10 million in five innovative African startups across sectors such as:
- Climate
- Food systems
- Energy access
- Internet connectivity
- Financial inclusion, and
- Payments infrastructure
These include:
- Beacon Power Services (Nigeria): one of Africa’s fastest-growing cleantech companies, which provides electricity access to millions of Africans.
- Poa! Internet (Kenya): which offers broadband internet for just $10 per month to over 60,000 households.
- Xeno (Uganda) : provides disruptive financial products offering sustainable and attractive savings alternatives for Africans.
- Bizao (Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal,: France): which addresses demand for high-performing payment aggregation platforms from major corporates and fintechs in Francophone Africa.
- Shamba Pride (Kenya): an operator of nearly 300 franchised shops that deliver products, insights, and training to farmers to address significant bottlenecks in the agricultural value chain.
Participants in the funding include:
- The African Development Bank
- EIB Global
and support from,
- The European Union, and
- Boost Africa
among other global investors.
“The African Development Bank views SeedStars Africa Ventures as a strategic opportunity to provide innovative support to Africa’s venture capital industry. It serves as a conduit to improve access to finance for youth and women while also enhancing the availability of risk capital in Francophone Africa.
This is an area that has traditionally faced limited access to risk capital,” said Ahmed Attout, African Development Bank Group Director for Financial Sector Development.
In 2022, as reported by BitKE, SeedStars ran a blockchain accelerator in partnership with Cardano and Financial Times where the following startups emerged as finalists:
- Fresh Afrika
- Merkle Science
- Medsaf
- Snapbrillia
- Hashstack
SeedStars Launches $30 Million Emerging Market Fund Targeting Seed Stage Startups
Since 2013, they have supported over 90 emerging market venture ecosystems. In June 2019, its pitching competition in Kenya had 10 pitchers, including 3 blockchain-based.https://t.co/IPtvCH6S6i pic.twitter.com/LR3ssbNXyq
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) July 27, 2022
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