A venture capital (VC) fund committed to supporting African founders has received more funding to help fulfill its mission.
TechCrunch reports that Seedstars Africa Ventures has closed on a $30 million capital commitment from European Investment Bank’s EIB Global — marking its “first major institutional investment for its first Pan-African venture capital fund.”
Intending to close at up to $100 million, the fund plans to distribute the funding to Seed and Series A startups. Additionally, it intends to lessen capital gaps on the African continent, provide operational and business support to tech entrepreneurs, and invest in founders who create jobs and boost economies.
“When the team launched in 2020, there was very little capital available beyond acceleration, so there was a clear need to provide more capital at this stage,” Seedstars Africa Ventures Partner Maxime Bouan told the outlet. “The team wanted to be pan-African from the onset and be able to provide hands-on support to portfolio companies through a targeted early-stage investment strategy.”
Along with resources from Seedstars Group, Seedstars Africa Ventures will make an initial investment of around $250,000 to $2 million to 30 startups, the outlet details. What’s more, it will provide up to $5 million in follow-on funding and invest 50% of the fund in Francophone African countries such as Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Although the fund focuses on the areas of education, health care and utilities, enhancing goods, services and efficiency, to name a few, it doesn’t “shy away from investing in innovative brick-and-mortar businesses that get an unfair advantage from digitalization.”
Before EIB Global’s $30 million capital commitment, Seedstars Africa Ventures received a $8 million investment from LBO France, which led to backing four startups, including Beacon. As AFROTECH shared in 2022, Seedstars Africa Ventures led the U.S. and Nigeria-based utility company’s $2.7 million seed round.
