The Norrsken Foundation has partnered with 30 unicorn as well as private equity and venture capital investors to create a $200 million fund to help African startups.
The Norrsken22 African Tech Growth Fund has reportedly raised $110 million in funding, following a $139 million funding round for European startups.
Natalie Kolbe, former global head of private equity at Actis, as well as Lexi Novitske and Ngetha Waithaka, former managing partners at Acuity Ventures Platform, have all invested in the Norrsken22 African Tech Growth Fund.
African Venture Capital funding has already surpassed the $4 billion threshold, much more than the continent’s startups have raised in the past two years.
The growth and late-stage investments, such as Chipper Cash, OPay, Andela, Paystack, Flutterwave, mPharma, and other firms, have primarily fueled the success.
Norrsken22 is a regional growth-stage firm that will help companies in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa leverage key partnerships to boost profitability, pitch, and facilitate expansion plans.
Norrsken22 will finance companies in fintech, MedTech, edtech, and market-enabling technologies including B2B marketplaces and inventory management firms.
With an average of $10 million, the business plans to invest in 20 startups, with some going up to $16 million in follow-on rounds.
Norrsken22 intends to invest 40% of its cash, or $80 million, in Series A and B startups, with the remainder going into follow-on rounds from Series C.