The Ventures Platform, based in Nigeria, has announced the first close of a US$40 million pan-African fund that will help it expand its portfolio.
A second closing of the fund is planned for early 2022, with participation from a limited group of global institutional investors and development finance institutions.
Since its inception in 2016, Ventures Platform has served as a partner and conduit for international investors and stakeholders looking to do business in Africa with a dependable and experienced partner. Seamless HR, Piggy Vest, Mono, and Paystack are among the 69 startups in the firm’s portfolio, and the firm has made a total of 28 investments in 2021 alone.
Its new US$40 million funds would invest in “market-creating technologies,” with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) heading the first close, which included participation from current investors as well as some new big names from Africa’s business and tech sectors. UAC Nigeria, VFD Group, Gbenga Oyebode, Shola Akinlade of Paystack are among them, as are worldwide investors such as Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel and Adam Draper.
“We’ve funded close to 70 of Africa’s most compelling tech firms over the last six years, establishing a powerful portfolio that includes one of the greatest exits our sector has seen to date with Paystack last year.” “As African tech’s incredible momentum grows, it’s attracting unprecedented attention from traditional and institutional investors around the world, and we’re thrilled to welcome aboard some world-class, strategic stakeholders to our fund,” said Kola Aina, founder, and general partner at Ventures Platform.
Ventures Platform is now positioned to fund follow-on rounds of successful entrepreneurs generating market-creating ideas across pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages in areas such as fintech, e-health, enterprise SAAS, digital infrastructure, and more, with a ticket size of up to US$1 million.