Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), which invests in scalable, tech-enabled, post-revenue startups tackling challenging issues on the continent, has secured US$43 million for its pan-African venture fund.
SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), and private investors like Osamu Kaneda are among the backers who contributed to the initial closing of the funding.
Among the companies in which VKAV currently has investments are Moove Africa, Koko Networks, Ceviant, Chari, Shuttlers, and Julaya.
Partners Satoshi Shinada, Ryosuke Yamawaki, and Ory Okolloh are in charge of VKAV, a joint venture that was established in 2021 between Kepple Africa Ventures (KAV), a Japanese venture capital firm, and Verod Holdings (Verod), an African growth capital private equity company.
With Project NINJA and Home Grown Solutions (HGS) via the African Union Development Agency, JICA has been assisting seed-stage start-ups in Africa. However, this investment will broaden JICA’s help to include funding for early-stage entrepreneurs and is anticipated to improve cooperation between Japanese businesses and startups in Africa. JICA stated that it would keep assisting young businesses and funds that seek to address social issues in developing nations all over the world, not just in Africa.
Its first investment vehicle, the VKAV Fund, will use the combined expertise of the two firms to invest in startups across Africa with a particular focus on early-stage startups that are focused on solving social concerns in the continent.
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