Afrigather OpenseedVC, an early-stage VC agency that was launched in 2024, has reached the primary shut of its $10 million fund for early-stage startups throughout Africa and Europe.
The $10 million fund is OpenseedVC’s first fund and can be used to again founders with area experience, highlighting the growing significance of founder expertise in Africa’s tech ecosystem. The VC agency expects to succeed in a second shut by Could subsequent yr.
“Earlier than investing, we are likely to ask three principal questions: How massive? Why this crew—what’s their distinctive benefit? And why now?” Maria Rotilu, basic accomplice of OpenseedVC, instructed TechCabal.
The London-headquartered VC agency will make investments as much as $150,000 in startups throughout B2B software program, synthetic intelligence, fintech, digital well being, and the way forward for work. The agency has already invested in two undisclosed synthetic intelligence startups in Nigeria and the UK.
A scarcity of area experience amongst founders has been identified because the main reason behind failure amongst startups. OpenseedVC prioritises founders who reveal a transparent understanding of the market they’re getting into and have the talents to navigate the challenges and alternatives it presents.
Launched in 2024 by Maria Rotilu, “OpenseedVC operates at a candy spot the place startups with sturdy potential for achievement, partly primarily based on the founder’s related execution means, obtain help.” The VC agency says its strategy ensures that capital is directed in the direction of companies with the next probability of successfully fixing actual, scalable, and impactful issues.
The launch of OpenSeedVC offers a brand new various for African startups that want to elevate funds. In 2023, funding for African startups dipped by 33% in comparison with the earlier yr, with African startups elevating solely about $3.2 billion.
“The present troublesome fundraising local weather is particularly harsh for early-stage founders, however we consider unimaginable corporations are born in probably the most troublesome macroeconomic climates. We wish to be the primary believers in these skilled operators to offer [them] an incredible head begin, with capital and an in depth operator community that helps [them] from the begin to the launch of their know-how corporations,” Rotilu stated in a press release.
OpenseedVC claims to have a community of over 50 skilled operators—who’ve deep expertise throughout its funding sectors—supporting the founders alongside the crew. The VC agency, which presently invests throughout Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, says it hopes to have a balanced portfolio throughout each areas sooner or later.
