Ventures Platform Secures $64m First Close for Second Pan-African Fund

Ventures Platform Secures $64m First Close for Second Pan-African Fund

Ventures Platform, certainly one of Africa’s main seed-stage enterprise capital companies, has announced the $64 million first shut of its second fund, VP Pan-African fund II. The fund, which is concentrating on a final shut of $75 million, will deepen the agency’s seed-stage investments and increase its scope to catalyse Series A rounds across the continent.

The fund is backed by a various group of global traders, with 70 per cent of commitments coming from the agency’s first institutional fund. New and returning traders embrace the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Standard Bank (South Africa), British International Investment (BII), Proparco, MSMEDA, and AfricaDevelop.

Notably, the fund includes a first-of-its-kind participation from Nigeria’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) program, a government-backed initiative aimed toward positioning Nigeria as a global hub for digital innovation.

A strategic shift to catalyse Series A rounds

With its new fund, Ventures Platform will strategically deepen its funding scope. While sustaining its basis in pre-seed and seed-stage investments, the fund will now also lead and catalyse Series A investments to de-risk high-potential ventures and improve worth creation.

Geographically, the fund will consolidate the agency’s actions in Francophone Africa and speed up its pan-African expansion into North Africa, while doubling down on its core markets, including Nigeria. The agency will prioritise ventures constructing “painkiller” options that tackle non-consumption and plug infrastructural gaps in key sectors such as fintech, healthtech, agritech, edtech, and AI.

Kola Aina, founding accomplice at Ventures Platform, commented: “The backing we’ve received from a diverse group of blue-chip partners is a powerful endorsement of Africa’s place as the purest, most asymmetric source for non-consensus alpha and transformative impact. The continent’s innovation opportunity is boundless, the needs are immense, but realising its full impact demands smart contextual capital, post-investment value creation, and a commitment to de-risking groundbreaking market-creating innovations.

“We believe Africa’s challenges are its greatest opportunities. By supporting resilient founders, we’re catalysing sustainable, market-creating innovations that will shape the future of the continent and plug gaps for the next billion.”

A new mannequin for public-private partnership

The funding from Nigeria’s iDICE programme alerts a major new collaboration between private and non-private capital to gasoline innovation on the continent.

Dr Olasupo Olusi, MD/CEO of the Bank of Industry, the implementing company for iDICE, said: “As the implementing agency of the iDICE Programme, Bank of Industry is proud to be associated with Ventures Platform on this milestone achievement. By investing in Ventures Platform’s Fund II, which serves as iDICE’s Technology Equity Fund for Nigerian startups, we are deepening the Federal Government’s objective of upscaling the Nigerian technology and creative sectors by catalyzing strategic investments in high-growth, technology-enabled enterprises and the innovation ecosystem.”

This local backing is supported by major worldwide development finance establishments (DFIs) and banks, who cited their confidence in the Ventures Platform team.

Nimalan Reddy, government vp at Standard Bank South Africa, said: “Standard Bank is proud to continue our partnership with Ventures Platform into Fund II. This is a testament to the quality and strength of the Ventures Platform team and our commitment to supporting high impact entrepreneurs across Africa.”

Françoise Lombard, chief government officer of Proparco, added: “We are proud to renew our support to Ventures Platform… As our first fund investment under the EU-backed Choose Africa VC program, it underscores our confidence in the team and our continued commitment to backing the tech ecosystem in Nigeria and across Africa”.

Farid Fezoua, IFC global director for disruptive applied sciences, providers and funds, also famous: “IFC’s investment in Ventures Platform Fund II will help early-stage startups move from proof-of-concept to growth, accelerating innovation in sectors like fintech, healthtech, edtech, and agtech, while also strengthening local value chains and creating quality jobs.”

A observe report of backing unicorns

Since its inception in 2016, Ventures Platform has funded over 90 startups. Its portfolio consists of some of the continent’s most profitable fintechs, such as Moniepoint (Africa’s latest unicorn), Piggyvest, Raenest, LemFi, and Paystack (acquired by Stripe).

The agency’s portfolio firms have gained worldwide recognition. Moniepoint, OmniRetail, and Thrive Agric have been all named among the Financial Times’ 2024 listing of Africa’s 25 fastest-growing firms.

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