Wave Ventures, Europe’s largest Gen Z-run VC fund, has announced its third fund, which is €7 million ($7.8 million), tripling the size of its previous fund. The fund is supported by a diverse group of investors, such as Slack, Bolt, Skype, Supercell, Wolt, Silo AI, and Smartly.io, as well as European early-stage VCs, and family offices, according to a press release. The fund comes at a crucial time for early-stage investing across the Nordics and Baltics. The quick advancement of generative AI, no-code tools, and open-source technologies makes entrepreneurship more
Black Unicorn Factory (BUF), a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has officially become the most prominent Black-owned venture capital firm in US history by the number of startups funded and total equity issued. The firm has provided over $500 million in alternative investment capital by backing over 150 early-stage companies across various industries. “Cash or other consideration” BUF differs from other firms that rely solely on cash-based investing, as it leverages non-traditional, SEC-compliant methods rooted in the concept of “cash or other consideration” as allowed under exemptions like Reg CF,
Pre-seed venture capital firm Symphonic Capital has announced the launch of its inaugural fund of $13.5 million to invest in early-stage companies. Symphonic Capital focuses on founders who are closing critical access gaps within healthcare and financial services.”That’s because we believe everyone should have access to reliable healthcare and financial freedom, regardless of their race, gender or ethnicity,” Founder Sydney Thomas and partner Shruti Shah said in a press statement. The fund is led by experienced pre-seed investors and operators and backed by leading institutions, such as Known, Candide, Illumen
Growth Warrior Capital recently raised $26 million for its first fund from investors like Bank of America, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and Pivotal Ventures, the investment firm founded by Melinda French Gates. Promise Phelon launched Growth Warrior in 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina to support underrepresented and overlooked entrepreneurs. Since then, the firm has written checks up to $3 million and has a portfolio of 11 companies. These include Capitan, an AI insurance claim platform that raised $104 million, and ForceMetrics, an AI platform for first responders. Supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs Growth
The Caribbean Venture Collective (CVC) is a new initiative aiming to close the longstanding gap in venture support for founders with ties to the Caribbean. Launched last week by Techstars alumni Daniel Smith and Mita Carriman, the CVC is a global network and founder fellowship program designed to increase visibility and access to capital for the region’s innovators. Venture support for Caribbean founders Trinidad-born Smith is the founder of Keepingly, a platform that helps homeowners manage and store homeownership documents. Carriman, born in New York to parents from Jamaica and
The Black Economic Alliance Entrepreneurs Fund LP, which is raising $50 million to support young startups, is over halfway towards its goal. As stated in a filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the fund has currently raised $28.5 million and is led by venture capitalist Melissa Bradley. The Washington Business Journal reported that she shared that the fund’s investment will focus on young companies that specialize in products or services in four key areas: financial inclusion, health and wellness, sustainable communities, and what she called “narrative change”—companies focused
Tech company Yango Group has launched Yango Venture, a corporate venture intended to support hopeful startups across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as stated by Gulf Business. The fund will target Series B investments in the online-to-offline (O2O), B2B software-as-a-service, and financial technology industries. Yango Group also hopes to grow its capital base as entrepreneurial environments expand in these promising markets. “With Yango Ventures, we are leveraging our expertise and network to support startups in scaling, thriving, and creating meaningful impact in their
Kenyan logistics startup Leta has secured $5 million in seed funding to expand its AI-powered platform, which helps businesses move goods more efficiently across Africa, TechCrunch reports. The round was led by European venture capital firm Speedinvest, with backing from Google’s Africa Investment Fund and Africa-focused climate tech fund Equator. Streamling Logistics with AI Founded in 2021 by Nick Joshi, Leta is tackling Africa’s logistics challenges by streamlining supply chains, reducing inefficiencies, and helping businesses save time and money. Its platform integrates with businesses’ sales and ordering systems, pulling real-time data
Mastercard Foundation, an international nongovernmental organization, has ended its commitment to invest $100 million in 54 Collective, the most active investor in Africa. 54 Collective (formerly Founders Factory Africa) and Mastercard Foundation “will be pursuing different strategies moving forward, and the partnership will end on 30 April 2025,” the venture capital firm told Rest of World in an email. A setback for Africa’s most active investor On February 20, the leadership team of 54 Collective informed staff that the new changes would lead to layoffs as the firm would end
Equator, an Africa-focused venture capital firm, secured $55 million for its first fund to support climate tech startups, particularly in their early stages, as reported by TechCrunch. Africa has less than 3% of global energy-related CO2 emissions but suffers from some of the worst climate impacts. Equator seeks to address that, saying it invests in deals “addressing economic and sustainability challenges emerging from these impacts.” Funding African climate tech startups In African countries, climate tech startups have to navigate a difficult funding landscape compared to their peers in more developed
