Seedstars Africa Ventures I, a venture capital fund focused on early-stage investments in scalable African startups, has announced a first close of $42 million.
Key institutional investors, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), EIB Global (backed by the European Union), the ACP Trust Fund – EU Compartment, and Boost Africa, alongside other global investors, backed the funding.
The funding announcement was made during the ongoing 2024 Africa Investment Forum Market Days in Rabat, an event co-founded by the AfDB and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to advance transformative African projects toward financial closure.
Seedstars Africa Ventures I, which operates from Nairobi, Dakar, and Paris, is also well on its way to achieving its $80 million fundraising target, having secured an additional $50 million in commitments.
Bridging early-stage financing gaps
Seedstars Africa Ventures I aims to address critical gaps in early-stage financing across the continent. The fund invests up to $2 million in seed and Series A rounds, with a follow-on capacity of up to $5 million.
- By leading multiple investment rounds, the fund catalyzes co-investments while providing operational support to startups, effectively bridging pools of capital to scale innovation in Africa.
- The fund has already deployed over $10 million into five pioneering African startups, impacting diverse sectors such as climate, food systems, energy access, internet connectivity, financial inclusion, and payments infrastructure.
- Collectively, these businesses serve over 60 million people, including connecting 60,000 households to the Internet, supporting 50,000 farmers, and empowering 30,000 individuals with financial inclusion services across eight African countries.
Strategic support for African VCs
Commenting on the latest funding, African Development Bank Group Director for Financial Sector Development, Ahmed Attout, said:
“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.”
“We welcome the investment of the African Development Bank, our Boost Africa partners, in the Seedstars Africa Ventures fund,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.
“Accelerating digitalisation is a priority for the EIB, and we are committed to supporting African businesses as they drive innovation and prosperity on the continent,” Fayolle added.
Startups in focus
Seedstars Africa Ventures’ portfolio includes five transformative startups:
- Beacon Power Services (Nigeria): A cleantech company providing electricity access to millions of Africans.
- Poa! Internet (Kenya): Offers broadband internet at $10 per month to over 60,000 households.
- Xeno (Uganda): Delivers sustainable financial products and savings solutions tailored for Africans.
- Bizao (Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, France): Develops high-performance payment aggregation platforms for corporates and fintechs in Francophone Africa.
- Shamba Pride (Kenya): Operates nearly 300 franchised shops providing products, insights, and training to farmers to address agricultural value chain bottlenecks.
What you should know
- Seedstars Africa Ventures was co-founded by Maxime Bouan, Tamim El Zein, and Bruce Nsereko Lule, who collectively bring over 45 years of experience in investing and working across Africa.
- The fund is part of LBO France Group, which seeded the initiative as part of its multi-asset-class African strategy.