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African startups

African venture capital firm Janngo Capital has closed its second fund at €73 million (approximately $78 million), surpassing its original €60 million target by 20%.  Janngo Capital states that fund now positions the venture capital firm as the largest accelerating gender equality in Africa. Investment Focus on Gender Equality and Diverse Sectors Janngo Capital positions itself as a “gender-equal” investor, with 56% of its portfolio companies founded or led by women.  Notable women-led investments include the Nigerian B2B platform Sabi and expense management company Expensya.  According to Janngo, its investment

Uncap has launched Unconventional Capital, a new €30 million (USD 33.4 million) fund to provide early-stage African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with alternative financing. Backed by major institutions like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bayer Foundation, the fund will focus on high-impact sectors such as agriculture, climate resilience, and financial inclusion, driving economic development across Africa. A New Approach to Financing Based in Munich and Nairobi, Uncap has been working to close the capital gap for African businesses since 2019, using a remote, data-driven approach. The

Innovate Africa Fund has launched with an initial $2.5 million to support up to 20 early-stage startups over the next year, addressing challenges such as insecurity, unemployment, and poverty. Supporting Early-Stage African Startups Since 2019, the funding landscape in Africa has shown promising growth, with disclosed exits surpassing $2.3 billion.  However, despite raising $17.2 billion overall, early-stage founders often need help to secure the funding necessary to transition from ideation to market fit.  Innovate Africa Fund aims to bridge this gap by providing insight-driven capital to help founders accelerate their

Breega, a Paris-based venture capital firm, has announced the first close of its $75 million Africa-focused fund, designed to back pre-seed and seed-stage startups.  Expanding Horizons With Local Presence Breega’s new fund, “Africa Seed I,” marks its first foray outside Europe and aligns with opening two new offices in Lagos and Cape Town.  These new locations join Breega’s existing offices in Paris, London, and Barcelona, enhancing its presence across the EMEA region.  According to Ben Marrel, Breega’s co-founder and CEO, the firm’s approach is rooted in its “founders-for-founders” ethos, offering

In the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, Africa’s startup scene saw another year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter dip in investments – with a notable exception in the mobility and fintech sectors. A drop in funding According to Africa: The Big Deal, Q1 saw $466 million raised through $100k+ deals by 121 startups (excluding exits). This is a 27% decrease from the previous quarter and only half of the amount raised at the same time last year. Techpoint Africa’s analysis of data from Intelpoint notes a 62% drop in African tech startup funding compared

Last year, African startups raised $2.9 billion in deals worth $100,000 and above (excluding exits). Although this amounts to a 39% drop compared to 2022, the continent is showing signs of resilience. Shifting investor landscape In 2023, Techstars was the top investor with 56 deals, surpassing Launch Africa. Other key players included Founders Factory Africa, Ventures Platform, Norrsken, and Y Combinator. All but Norrsken did fewer deals in 2023 than in 2022. For example, YC added only 12 African startups to its 2023 cohorts, compared to 43 in 2022 and