EIB Global reveals a $30 million commitment to Seedstars Africa Ventures I, a venture capital fund dedicated to supporting innovative entrepreneurs across Africa.
The fund will invest in companies developing and implementing digital technologies, in particular those addressing basic needs such as education, healthcare and utilities, or enhancing goods, services and value-chain efficiency.
“Encouraging and promoting innovation and digitalisation is crucial to developing strong and sustainable economies,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.
“African entrepreneurs hold the key to the continent’s future, creating jobs, reducing inequality and improving quality of life. The EIB, as part of Team Europe, is committed to supporting African businesses, and we are proud of the success of Boost Africa and the ACP Trust Fund.”
Seedstars Africa Ventures I was created by Maxime Bouan, Tamim El Zein and Bruce Nsereko Lule, in partnership with Seedstars, a global organization that invests and supports entrepreneurs from emerging markets, and LBO France, a multi-country multi-specialist investment platform that seeded the initiative and provided a material anchoring commitment, +30 years’ investment experience in small and venture companies and environmental, social and governance (ESG) expertise.
Venture capital investments reached $4.8 billion in Africa in 2022, a +270% increase from the $1.3 billion invested in 20191. Despite this tremendous growth, a significant equity gap continues to exist at the early stages of funding on the continent, calling for more investors in the space.
Seedstars Africa Ventures invests in Seed+ and Series A rounds, with an ability to follow-on significantly, effectively bridging the pools of capital available.
The Fund leads investment rounds to facilitate syndication and provides strong operational support that is critically lacking in the regional venture capital space. On top of its internal, on-the-ground teams, the Fund uniquely leverages support resources provided by the acceleration platform of Seedstars.
