Africa as a whole is poised for tremendous growth over the next 25 years. With a confluence of a growing, youthful population, a rising middle class, technological leapfrogging (Africa is home to half of the world’s mobile wallets), stronger governments and institutions, and abundant natural resources, Africa is increasingly considered by investors to be the next growth frontier.

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Of all the opportunities in Africa, Fintech is one of the most scalable and impactful.

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1. Fintech is the most scalable opportunity today in Africa. We now have close to 10 unicorns in Africa, and most of them are fintechs. Investors across the globe are coming to Africa to make their first investments, with the largest proportion in fintech. (McKinsey: African fintech revenues will grow 8x in the next 3 years)

2. Fintech is impactful - a multiplier for entrepreneurial ventures. Fintech solves problems that will enable a wave of new entrepreneurs to flourish. Reducing the cost of doing business - making payments more efficient and easy, creating wiser access to credit, having savings & investment products for the everyday African, creating insurance that makes sense - solves problems, reduces the cost of “doing life,” and brings jobs and growth to African economies.

1. We invest in financial inclusion. This means small businesses and consumers will have better, easier, more appropriate, and/or cheaper access to new financial products and services to do business or “do life” better. 

2. Fintech can be categorized as 5 “apps” - savings, lending, investments, insurance, and payments. We will be considering ventures in all 5.

3. We also like competitive moats built on data and b2b/SaaS/platform business models.

4. We are also tackling fintech in a unique two-way manner - from the fin side and the tech side. Our portfolio will be as good at the “fin” as they are at the “tech.” The tech is sexy, but oftentimes, it’s the fin - and really, the regulatory part of the fin - that’s hard to get right. So we will invest in tech-savvy financial institutions as well as fin-savvy techs, and our portfolio companies will be able to innovate with each other.

5. We are also looking for “fintech-adjacent” companies. Many of the continent’s most important problems will be solved with B2B software-enabled solutions that include fintech – but wouldn’t be considered “fintech” companies. Very often, the primary solution is software that automates and/or digitizes key business processes, which then enables market penetration and data capture that unlocks financing, payments, and other fintech opportunities. We also believe these models can scale quickly while getting to profitability earlier than typical venture-backed companies.

We typically also prefer entrepreneurial teams with the following characteristics:

• At least 2 co-founders

• Good both "fin" and "tech."

• Resilient in tough times

• Know when to persevere and when to pivot

• Purpose-driven and profit-savvy

• Intentional about building culture

And we have an emphasis on local and female founders.

We are looking for companies that:

• Have secured their first set of loyal customers and local investors.

• Are in the seed / post-seed / Series A stage.

• Are post-revenues with at least 3 customers

We typically write first checks $100k - $500k in priced rounds (or SAFE value capped rounds) of $1-20M. We will also typically follow lead investors we know and trust. Some of the companies in our current portfolio: Kwara, Pezesha, Fingo, Leta, Zeraki, and Qhala. We prefer to utilize SAFEs, equity, and convertible notes (we do not offer debt). We plan to deploy the majority of the Fund in second half 2023 through 2024.

• We've started several companies ourselves, experiencing both big failures and big successes. We know the 0 to 1 entrepreneurial journey well and can provide practical advice and perspective. We know the value of just the right advice at just the right moment, as we've relied on those who have gone before us. We've been in those shoes.

• We are well-connected in the ecosystem to other investors, co-investors, earlier-stage investors, and angels - both debt and equity. We have also had one-on-one coffees with 700+ people in the Nairobi ecosystem, and can often be helpful in finding the right talent, expert, or connector.

• We have connections in the SE Asia and LATAM markets and can help portfolio companies expand into those regions. We believe that many global tech companies of the future will start from Africa. We also have connections to the US VC landscape, as our own companies have raised tens of millions of venture capital dollars from them.