TLcom, a venture capital firm with offices in Lagos and Nairobi, raised $154m for its second fund, TIDE Africa Fund II, on Monday.
The new fund, according to an official statement, will accelerate the firm’s mission to partner with elite founders to tackle Africa’s biggest and most complex challenges with innovative solutions that would unlock massive value in the continent’s critical sectors.
According to the firm, TIDE Africa Fund II is the largest early-stage VC fund focused on Africa, positioning TLcom as the continent’s largest investor across seed and Series A stages.
It stated that at more than twice the size of TLcom Capital’s first fund, TIDE Africa Fund II was oversubscribed and saw participation from several new, high-profile LPs alongside returning LPs from the firm’s first Africa-focused fund, TIDE Africa Fund I, which closed in 2020.
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It added that the final close saw participation from several new, high-profile LPs alongside returning LPs from TLcom’s first Africa-focused fund, TIDE Africa Fund I, which closed in 2020.
It also noted that they included the European Investment Bank, Allianz and DEG Impact’s joint venture, AfricaGrow, the Visa Foundation, and Bertelsmann.
The Managing Partner at TLcom Capital, Maurizio Caio, said TLcom now counts among a small number of venture capital firms that have raised multiple substantial funds for technology in Africa.
He remarked that this was a testament to the quality of the team and the trust it had established with limited partners.
It was also a major endorsement of the firm’s long-term view on Africa’s massive upside, he added.
“We are maintaining the same investment strategy for TIDE Africa Fund II as we had for our first fund, which made over 80 per of its investments at Seed or Series A. With this final close, we are thrilled that TLcom is in an even stronger position to continue to partner with Africa’s most talented entrepreneurs from early in their company-building journeys.
“We are also excited to spend more time in the Egyptian ecosystem, co-investing alongside the most active local funds. TLcom is well on its way to realising our ambition of becoming Africa’s most sought-after early-stage VC and a truly pan-African firm,” Caio explained.