Village Capital, a global nonprofit that backs high-impact startups across emerging markets, has deployed $350,000 from its latest fund into two Ghanaian startups, marking the first investments from a vehicle designed to channel capital to early-stage African companies building essential services.
The funding comes from the Africa Ecosystem Catalysts Facility (AECF), a $4 million investment fund launched in July 2025 in partnership with the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The facility targets startups addressing economic mobility and climate resilience through locally grounded solutions.
The investment comes as funding from development finance institutions, which helped power much of Africa’s startup funding growth over the last decade, has started slowing across the continent. Deals like this show that investors are still willing to back early-stage startups building essential services in sectors like healthcare and logistics.
Under the latest investment, the facility will invest $200,000 into Rivia Clinics, a tech-enabled primary healthcare startup, and a $150,000 investment into VDL Fulfilment, an e-commerce logistics platform, through a mix of convertible debt and performance-linked financing.
“Rivia and VDL are strong examples of the businesses emerging across Ghana – founders building practical solutions to real, everyday challenges, from accessing quality healthcare to moving goods more efficiently,” said Heather Matranga, Managing Director of Venture and Investments at Village Capital.
Rivia will use the funding to expand its clinic network, strengthen its sales efforts, and deepen its virtual care capabilities, while VDL will finance fleet expansion and warehouse infrastructure to improve fulfilment capacity.
Village Capital noted that the funding works in partnership with locally-led Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs), local ecosystem groups that help startups with mentorship, funding access, business development, and investor readiness. These organisations are known for helping to identify promising startups that may be overlooked by traditional venture capital firms.
When the AECF was initially set up, Village Capital selected five ESOs in Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania as venture partners, including Reach for Change, Africa Fintech Foundry, Fate Foundation, Anza Entrepreneurs, and Ennovate Ventures. For the Ghana investments, Reach for Change and Innovation Spark helped shape the investment pipeline, ensuring capital is aligned with the realities on the ground, according to the company.
Since its founding in 2009, Village Capital said it has helped mobilise over $7 billion in investment capital to support about 1800 startups. The latest investments are expected to be the first in a planned series of deployments across Nigeria and Tanzania as the facility continues backing early-stage African startups.