Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (“VKAV”) has closed its first fund of $60 million.
SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Japan International Corporation Agency, and Japan ICT Fund are among the fund’s major institutional investors.
Additionally, a few more institutional investors from Japan, including Taiyo Holdings and C2C Global Education Japan, as well as SCM Capital, formerly known as Sterling Capital Markets Limited, from Nigeria, joined the final close.
Verod-Kepple Africa Partners is a joint venture between Verod Capital Management, a private equity firm based in West Africa that invests in mid-sized businesses across various sectors, and Kepple Africa Ventures. VKAV is the first fund of the partnership.
VKAV is addressing the increasing lack of capital available, especially from local investors, for African companies transitioning to Series A and B stages by concentrating on growth-stage companies.
The fund will concentrate on three primary themes: businesses developing digital infrastructure across various industries; inefficiency solvers, primarily addressing friction between businesses and consumers; and market creators, generating opportunities for individuals to prosper economically, taking into account the shifting dynamics of the African economy and population.
The VKAV team consists of active investors who may assist their portfolio firms with fundraising, partnerships, governance, talent, and legal matters.
Since Verod is above to concentrate on providing operational best practices and preparedness for additional financing and exit from the start, their cooperation with Verod is an essential component of this help.
As businesses attempt to negotiate the challenging macroeconomic landscape in Africa and aim to expand into other countries globally, this help is more important than ever.
Twelve businesses, including Moove Africa, KOKO Networks, Ceriant, Chari, Shutlers, Nawy, Juliaya, NowPay, Chefaa, Cloudline, Zone, and mTek-Services, have received funding from the fund thus far.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
P1 Ventures, an African VC firm, has closed the second $35 million round of its Fund II
Saviu Ventures, a Francophone Africa-focused VC firm, has raised $13 million in its first fund-close