Andrew Olaleye

Investing in Africa’s Future: Uncap's $33 Million Fund for SMEs As someone with a deep passion for supporting African entrepreneurs, I’m excited to highlight Uncap’s groundbreaking $33 million fund. This innovative, non-dilutive, revenue-based financing model is designed to empower early-stage businesses across the continent without requiring them to give up equity—something I truly believe is critical for sustainable growth. Co-led by Esther Ndeti and Franziska Reh, and backed by global partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this fund is set to fuel the future of Africa’s SMEs, which account for 90% of businesses. From agriculture to media, Uncap’s approach will enable entrepreneurs to thrive and retain control over their companies—a vital step in driving real change. I'm inspired by initiatives like this that create opportunities for the next generation of African business leaders to flourish. Are you as excited about these opportunities for our wonderful continent and young entrepreneurs as I am? #AfricanEntrepreneurs #SMEInvestment #BusinessGrowth #InnovationInAfrica #LeadershipInAction

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African VC firm TLcom Capital LLP has closed its second fund, TIDE Africa Fund II, at $154 million, cementing its place as the continent’s largest investor across seed and Series A. “The oversubscribed fund, initially targeted to close at $150 million, attracted participation from over 20 limited partners. Notable investors include the European Investment Bank (EIB), Visa Foundation, Bertelsmann, and AfricaGrow, a joint venture between Allianz and DEG Impact. “TLcom Capital, which focuses on traditional sectors like fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education, and commerce, has already backed six companies from its new fund, making initial investments ranging from $1 million to $3 million. They include SeamlessHR, FairMoney, Zone, and Vendease. Additionally, the firm has expanded its portfolio to include ILLA, a middle-mile logistics platform, and Littlefish, which enable payments and banking products for SMEs, marking its first investments in Egypt and South Africa, respectively.” https://lnkd.in/eNZGqJhc Maurizio Caio, Omobola Johnson, Eloho Omame, Andreata Muforo, Ido Sum, Wairimu Muriithi, Philippe Griffiths, Francesca Iannilli #funding #fundingnews #vcfunding #venturecapital #startups #tech #fintech #innovation

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London, UK based TLcom Capital LLP recently closed its second fund to back early-stage start-ups across Africa. 💸 $154M for TIDE Africa Fund II, with participation from over 20 limited partners including European Investment Bank (EIB), Visa Foundation, Bertelsmann, and AfricaGrow, a joint venture between Allianz and DEG Impact. 💡 Actively seeking 20 to 25 early-stage investment opportunities, with a particular focus on the #seedstage and #SeriesA, with consideration for exploring deals at growth and later stages too. Investment interests lie in traditional sectors, including #fintech, #mobility, #agriculture, #healthcare, #education, and #commerce. Initial investments typically range from $1 million to $3 million. 🌍 #Africa 📈 TLcom's current portfolio companies include SeamlessHR, Autochek Africa, Vendease Africa, Ilara Health, PULA, Terragon Group, among others. The VC operates from offices in London, Lagos and Nairobi. 💭 “We need global capital to look at Africa and think of a place where good investments can be made and technology can generate much value. That’s still to be achieved at scale, so that’s our primary target.” - Maurizio Caio, managing partner 🗞️ Tage Kene-Okafor, TechCrunch https://lnkd.in/eNZGqJhc 👏 For the #AudaciousInvestors unleashing innovation and empowering tomorrow🚀 Maurizio I Omobola I Ido I Andreata I Eloho I Philippe I Wairimu I Olumide I Shamona I Francesca I Team TLcom … #venturecapital #vc #funds #startups #entrepreneurs #funding #tech #uk #entrepreneurship #technology #innovation #Nairobi #Lagos #London

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🚨Africa's Tech Startups Face M&A Challenges Amid Optimism🚨 Venture financing has declined along with the number of tech company exits in Africa, which fell from 44 in 2021 to 29 in 2022 due to global IPO slowdowns and tougher M&A restrictions. Regarding anticipated M&A activity as businesses look for liquidity, investors are upbeat. Even if there are disagreements about whether exit volumes justify the venture money spent, notable exits such as Expensya's acquisition by Medius demonstrate noteworthy returns. Array of Zero #Journalism #TechNews #Startups #TechTrends

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Janade Du Plessis of Launch Africa Ventures and Polo Mohau Leteka of IDF Capital recently shared some valuable insights into the fintech landscape in Africa, stressing on exits in Africa. In their discussion with CNBC Africa, they highlighted some key takeaways that are worth noting. 👉 Firstly, investors are looking for exits, which is why they invest in the first place. 👉 Secondly, big banks and other corporates are struggling to crack the financial inclusion dilemma faced by the continent, which could lead to the acquisition of smaller players. 👉 Thirdly, fintech is a broad space with 9 verticals, so understanding where you play is important. Being agile and able to integrate into other solutions is becoming increasingly important, with embedded solutions on the rise. 👉 Fourthly, fintech is increasingly becoming the basis for access in related sectors like health and education. Improving financial inclusion is seen as the golden thread to improving the lives of African people. 👉 Lastly, the pipeline of deals that are investable is crucial for the growth of fintech in Africa. The discussion also touched on the journeys of women in fintech, with Nicole Dunn of Revio emphasizing the importance of understanding the space, regulation, and adoption of your target market. Regulation is slowly improving, but transparency of processes and controls, stability in institutions and currency across the continent are still lacking, negatively impacting the ability to raise funds. Mélanie Keïta of Melanin Kapital highlighted that the product market is key to getting the right funders on board. Raising funding without this is a challenge, so physically getting into the market you are serving to understand the problem is crucial. Innovative solutions that are fit for the problem can leapfrog startups in solving for financial inclusion. Overall, the fintech landscape in Africa is complex and requires a deep understanding of the market, regulation, and adoption to succeed. Share your thoughts below in the comments 👇 Share the insights by sharing this post with your network ♻ Shout out to Zachariah George for sharing this with us! #fintech #founders #vc #africa #financialinclusion

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💥TLcom Capital LLP closes second fund at $154M to back early-stage startups across Africa 🚀 Venture capital activity in Africa has shown resilience over the past six months, with major firms backing startups on the continent closing their funds despite the ongoing funding winter. In the latest development, TLcom Capital, an African VC firm with offices in Lagos and Nairobi and a focus on early-stage startups, has concluded fundraising for its second fund, TIDE Africa Fund II, totaling $154 million. The final close positions the firm as Africa’s largest investor across seed and Series A. 💼 The oversubscribed fund, initially targeted to close at $150 million, attracted participation from over 20 limited partners. Notable investors include the European Investment Bank (EIB), Visa Foundation, Bertelsmann, and AfricaGrow, a joint venture between Allianz and DEG Impact. 🌍 This news comes two years and a few months after TLcom Capital announced the first close of the second fund at $70 million, matching the size of its first fund, TIDE Africa Fund I. While the broader slowdown affecting venture capital and startups globally contributed to the prolonged fundraising period, the VC firm can count a few positives, managing partner Maurizio Caio. 💬 “We like to start early when the entrepreneur is raising seed or Series A and then to be with the entrepreneur along the journey and continue to invest if we think that the company deserves more capital deployed,” remarked Caio. “The reason is that we build our portfolio such that we back 20 to 25 companies that ‘if everything works out’ can return the fund individually.” 🌍 The multi-sector-focused firm and other notable venture capital firms like Norrsken22, Al Mada Ventures, Algebra Ventures and Partech Africa have raised significant funds to back African startups from pre-seed to Series C. However, as these funds are deployed across various stages of startup growth, attention will turn to the exit opportunities they facilitate and the tangible returns they deliver to their LPs, as these outcomes play a crucial role in driving the overall growth of the African tech ecosystem. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eNZGqJhc #africa #technology #startup

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Just listened to an incredibly insightful episode of Couchonomics with Arjun with Arjun! This week, the special guest was Elias Yazbeck Yazbeck, MD at Helios Investment Partners. It delved into a range of topics including the dynamics of private equity in Africa, emerging trends, and investment strategies. A must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of finance and opportunity on the continent. Don't miss it! #Podcast #Fintech #Investment #PrivateEquity #Africa

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The success of any start-up depends on; The Market, The Business Model & The Team. These 3 ingredients ignite the bonfire. At Broad Capital Advisory, we strongly believe in passionate founders...folks doing impactful things across several sectors. We remain bullish on Africa. If you seek Alpha then Africa is the place to be. Congrats to Futa, Grace Jerolgan Nganakala, Daniel Dang, and the team for staying the course. #Girlpower #Womenintech Yemi Keri

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Introducing "6 Questions", a rapid-fire Q&A session where we feature operators, investors and founders in the Africa startup ecosystem.

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New player in Africa's VC game! 📈 OpenseedVC, a recently launched venture capital firm, has secured an initial closing for its $10 million early-stage fund. The fund will focus on backing startups in Africa and Europe founded by experienced technology operators. Learn more 👉 https://lnkd.in/d7KAewBy #empowerafrica #africa #investinafrica #vcfunding #startups #startupfunding Maria Rotilu Andrés Clavel

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🌍 How Zimi is Revolutionizing the $7T Global commerce market while powering African merchants. Africa is on the cusp of a commerce revolution, and Zimi (YC S24) is at the forefront, building the infrastructure to power global trading. As a tech-enabled fulfillment provider, Zimi connects merchants in emerging markets with global buyers, with an initial focus on Africa and the US. Despite the African continent exporting over $600 billion in goods annually, inefficiencies in shipping and supply chains result in a staggering $50 billion in missed export opportunities each year. Zimi is changing the game by offering centralized warehouses, pre-negotiated shipping rates, and rapid fulfillment processes. This innovative approach has slashed shipping costs and times by 80%, allowing African merchants to reach B2B and B2C customers globally faster and cheaper than ever before. The result? A significant increase in order volume and a stronger position for Africa in the global trade landscape. At the helm of Zimi is Audrey Djiya Djiya, a visionary leader with a proven track record in international expansion and e-commerce growth. With experience at industry giants like Peloton and fintech startups like Duplo, Audrey is driving Zimi's mission to unlock Africa's full potential in global commerce. As Zimi continues to build its infrastructure, Africa is positioning itself as a major player in the global economy. By empowering African merchants to compete on a global scale, Zimi is not just facilitating trade—it's igniting a commerce revolution that could reshape the future of international trade. 🔥 https://www.withzimi.com/ We're building the largest community of global trade and investment experts in Africa. Join us as we accelerate global commerce and investment on the continent. Follow the link below to join us and explore unlimited opportunities. https://lnkd.in/dHcq8D7p #GlobalTrade #AfricaRising #CommerceRevolution #Ecommerce #Zimi #TradeInfrastructure #TechForGood

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On today's digest, we will be talking about the pre-seed season and we will be demystifying some of the concepts around Pre-seed backing. Pre-seed in the VC world has been the earliest form of backing startups and in the early days of venture backing in Africa, companies would be backed at their Pre-seed level and funded to build their product and validate for some months. Pre-seed then was considered as the experimentation phase and most startups went through this phase and never went past it. Funding size for this was mostly between $50k-$200k. However it is important to understand that the season of Pre-seed in Africa has changed and investors have changed and most VCs are now more focused on seed stage to reduce risk. This is because more than 90% of Pre-seed companies fail even after funding. Since it's experimentation phase, people experiment with many things and most of the time at the end of the period, they discover that the business model isn't scalable therefore the company has to wind up. So the big question is how do startups get the required backing needed at the Pre-seed level? The first thing to understand is that Pre-seed level is for validation and gaining traction, hence at this level, you mostly either need to launch a product or a service, and validate as quickly as possible. This is where Venture studios can be useful, a Venture studio can co-build and invest into your development, acquiring users and gaining traction. Studios are best useful at Pre-seed stage where most VCs will avoid because of the risk involved, studios are able to mitigate that risk better with their network of operators thereby getting the company to seed stage level. Hence, when at Pre-seed level with no traction, rather than seeking for XYZ capital, seek for backing from a studio or ESO with the focus to build product or to validate an already built product. With this, you have closer chances of getting to seed stage where it can become easier to raise institutional capital from VCs and other investors in that category. Stay informed #spcuniverse #venturestudio

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OpenseedVC, an early-stage VC firm that was launched in 2024, has reached the first close of its $10 million fund for early-stage startups across Africa and Europe.  https://lnkd.in/durQ3KFi This is OpenseedVC’s first fund and will be used to back founders with domain expertise. OpenseedVC prioritises founders who demonstrate a clear understanding of the market they are entering and have the skills to navigate the challenges and opportunities it presents. The London-headquartered VC firm will invest up to $150,000 in startups across B2B software, artificial intelligence, fintech, digital health, and the future of work. The firm has already invested in two undisclosed artificial intelligence startups in Nigeria and the UK. Get more details 👇 https://lnkd.in/durQ3KFi

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We are delighted to announce that Pierre d' Unienville, Executive Director & Co-Founder at KICK Advisory Services, will be speaking at AFSIC - Investing in Africa, 7-9th October 2024. Company Overview: KICK Corporate Services Ltd, trading as KICK Advisory Services (“KICK’’) is a client centric boutique advisory firm, set up to serve businesses operating in the Mauritius International Financial Centre (Mauritius IFC). Founded in July 2020 with an aggressive passion to drive corporate finance solutions in an era of unprecedented changes and volatility. KICK is here to deliver on CEO’s agenda at a time where businesses are faced with severe disruption, uncertainty, cash flow issues and are struggling to understand the dynamics of the changing world. We at KICK believe that sailing through the changing winds with a clear guide and focus will optimise your business resources and bring normality to the journey and give you the cutting edge in the competitive landscape to strive in the new normal. Founded during the storm of the pandemic Covid-19, we at KICK believe that sailing through the changing winds with a clear guide and focus will make your business journey normalize and give you the cutting edge in competition to thrive in the new normal. Our technical team combine decades of experience and industry expertise to bring you the right corporate finance solutions to kick start your journey in today’s rapid changing world. Our commitment and dedication lie in our strategy of “putting clients first”, because your growth drives our growth. We focus on being a Business Partner than just a Service Provider, hence while we focus on putting clients first, we are here to deliver on a CEO’s agenda. Our Services: • Valuation • M&A Advisory • Fund Raising & Venture Capital • Working Capital Requirements • Strategic Consulting • Business Restructuring Services • Corporate Finance Advisory https://lnkd.in/eBXnUBr9 Register NOW to attend AFSIC – Africa’s Investment Event, 7-9th October 2024. London #afsic #afsic2024 #investinginafrica #africaninvestment #africafinance

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We are delighted to announce that Winfred Kinuthia, Grants Finance and Operations Manager at Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity, will be speaking at AFSIC - Investing in Africa, 7-9th October 2024. Company Overview: The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity was established in 2023 with an objective to address the barriers that hinder the creation of opportunities for dignified and fulfilling work for young people in the continent. These include young women, refugee youth, and youth living with disabilities. The barriers identified include lack of access to finance, access to markets, human capital, enabling business environment and investor connections. The Program will address these barriers by: 1. Offering direct financial support through a challenge fund to organizations with high growth potential and the ability to scale up innovative and resilient business models. 2. Providing a two-front additionality pathway where the Organization will prepare the SMEs to be investor ready on one hand and negotiate partnerships with potential financiers on the other hand. 3. Adding value beyond financial support through technical assistance and capacity building; 4. Convening and influencing through experienced partners and digital platforms to drive systemic change by convening relevant stakeholders. The Mastercard Foundation is working with partners to implement this 7-year program. The Fund Manager for the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity is KPMG Development Services Limited in partnership with Triple Line Consulting, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Partner Register NOW to attend AFSIC – Africa’s Investment Event, 7-9th October 2024. London #afsic #afsic2024 #investinginafrica #africaninvestment #africafinance

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