Ventures Platform, an early-stage pan-African VC firm, has announced the addition of 10 fresh African startups to its portfolio.
In an announcement released on its weblog this afternoon, the firm shared that it had invested within the 10 startups thru its most in trend $40 million fund. Closing December, founder Kola Aina shared with TechCabal data in regards to the starting up of a fresh $40 million fund aimed at “discovering, funding and supporting groundbreaking market-increasing innovation alternatives to assemble prosperity and quandary Africa as a ambitious force in global markets.”
Contributing to the fund are leading names in Africa’s abilities and company ecosystem along with UAC Nigeria, VFD Group, Gbenga Oyebode, Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade, as smartly as global merchants adore Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel, and Boost VC founder Adam Draper.
Since its birth in 2016, Ventures Platform has backed virtually 70 startups along with Seamless HR, PiggyVest, Mono, and Paystack.
This yr, the firm has participated in no longer lower than 2 investments along with Earnipay’s $4 million seed spherical, and Remedial Health’s $1 million pre-seed spherical.
The 10 startups
Ten fresh startups like joined the firm’s portfolio, originating from Nigeria, Zambia, and Kenya: Fluna, Catlog, Shekel, and TopUp Mama.
Topup Mama is a Kenya-essentially based fully mostly restaurant management platform for African restaurateurs to unify and optimise Africa’s fragmented meals and drinks provide chain. Ventures Platform invested in Topup Mama since the founder understood the project deeply, having grown up as the son of a cafe owner and experiencing the day-to-day challenges and constraints to enhance himself. “The founders are excellent to disrupt this billion-dollar market,” the corporate’s weblog post read.
The B2B SaaS treasury management and financing platform Fluna was as soon as chosen since the firm believes that the founders are “leading the charge to discontinuance the $5 trillion total credit score gap in increasing and rising economies.” Launched in 2021, Fluna’s product choices consist of automated treasury reporting, money waft forecasting, and multi-financial institution recordsdata feed.
Shekel earned Ventures Platform’s give a boost to thanks to its purpose to redefine the town mobility sector. The startup is a dealership management plot enabling auto dealerships to get correct of entry to financing, and helping more Africans personal automobiles. Shekel, which was as soon as essentially based in 2021 is at the moment working in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and the US and claims to love powered over $6 million in transactions.
In the end, there’s Catlog, a social commerce platform that enables retailers on social media platforms to reach massive audiences with decreasing-edge sales and marketing tools. “We speak that social commerce is a stable contender for the dominant originate of on-line commerce within highly dynamic African markets, and Catlog is smartly-positioned to free up massive financial opportunity for thousands and thousands of tiny commercial house owners. Merchants can assemble a free retailer here,” the firm wrote.
Thoroughly different 6 startups—all fintechs—consist of Blochq, Traction, Moni.Africa, Plumter, Vendy, and Union54.
Despite the indisputable truth that neither Ventures Platform nor the startups like printed how grand was as soon as invested in each and every, the firm did note that it had previously quietly invested in 6 different startups thru its most in trend fund.
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Editor’s Point out: This text was as soon as updated at 6PM WAT to replicate that Ventures Platform invested in a total of 10 startups with its fresh fund.