Norrsken, VCs And 30 Unicorn Founders Set Up A $200M Fund To Back Growth-Stage Startups In Africa

The fund, dubbed the Norrsken22 African Tech Growth Fund, reached its first close of $110 million last week and it’s the latest fund launched by Norrsken after closing €125 million impact fund for European startups last March.

This is good news for the continent which saw a boom in investment last year. Africa VC funding reached an all-time high in 2021 at over $4 billion, more than what startups in the continent raised in the two previous years combined.

But still – deals such as $100 million-plus rounds were relatively fewer than early-stage deals, according to data collated by Briter Bridges and The Big Deal.

The foundation teamed up with 30 unicorn founders and a couple of seasoned venture capital and private equity investors to launch the $200 million targeted at African startups.

Making up the firm’s investment is Ngetha Waithaka, aGeneral Partner of Norrsken22 based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ngetha joined Actis in 2011 and has 10+ years of investing experience.

Also making up the investment is general partners Natalie Kolbe, the ex-global head of private equity at Actis, a private equity fund investing in emerging markets; and Lexi Novitske, the ex-managing partner at Acuity Ventures Platform.

Novitske told TechCrunch on a call that the firm is speaking to a few DFIs to reach a final close later this year.

On its website – it said: “We invest across Africa, but focus on the main tech hubs in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana.
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“Our teams are fully ingrained in these markets and our local presence is crucial in understanding opportunities and identifying the best solutions.

“We back relevant, disruptive, scalable and tech-enabled business models.”