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Pan-African venture capital firm Verrod Kepple closes first fund with $60 million

TechBrunchBy TechBrunchApril 9, 20244 Mins Read
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Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) plans to back up to 21 growth-stage companies across the continent after closing its first fund for $60 million. The pan-African VC reached the milestone with new support from Nigeria's SCM Capital (formerly Sterling Capital Markets Limited) and its only foreign investor. Other recent investors (limited partners) include Taiyo Holdings and his C2C Global Education Japan.

This new capital injection is supported by major Japanese institutions including SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and Japan ICT Fund, and is the first installment of the fund in 2022 and last year, respectively. This follows the second close.

Verod-Kepple is the latest African VC to raise capital amid the continuing investment downturn, raising Series A and B startups even as local capital pools for growth-stage companies remain limited. It is now possible to provide much-needed funding to the

“Over the last few years, we have seen the growth of pre-seed and seed funds, with sufficient capital available for the growth stage of investments to take these companies to the next level in terms of scale, exit or growth. We felt like it wasn't. It was a sustainable profitable business,” VKAV partner Ory Okolloh told TechCrunch.

“We are focused on Series A and B, but we have the ability to move into pre-Series A sooner if we feel it is a good opportunity. Growth stage funding from locally based investors We believe that more is needed,” she said.

Okoro, Ryosuke Yamawaki and Satoshi Shinada launched the VC firm in 2022 as a joint venture between private equity firm Verod Capital and Tokyo-based venture capital firm Kepple Africa.

The VC firm works with the fund to provide meaningful practical support to portfolio companies in the scale-up stage, including implementing operational best practices, improving governance structures, and navigating Africa's complex macroeconomic environment. states that it was necessary. Verod-Kepple realized that as more startups move from pre-seed and seed stages to Series A and B stages and beyond, they needed a more institutional approach to successfully transition and scale. , made this claim.

How VKAV invests

The VKAV Fund supports startups that build the infrastructure of the digital economy, solve inefficiencies faced by businesses, and support market creators for emerging consumer groups. Okoro said his focus on the latter is to help companies take advantage of changing consumer trends.

The VC fund continues to invest between $1 million and $3 million, and has already deployed $17.5 million, investing an average of $1.5 million in 12 companies in Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. ing. Investments span fintech, mobility, e-commerce, proptech, deeptech, insurtech, energy and healthcare, including Uber-backed Move Africa, climate change technology scale-up KOKO Networks, and Nigeria's They are shared mobility startup Shutlers, aerospace startup Cloudline, Moroccan B2B e-commerce and retail startup Chari, and insurtech mTek-Services.

The fund is also sector agnostic, with a focus on vertical ERP startups, companies offering embedded financial services and companies tapping into the future of the workplace. They are also “increasingly applying an AI lens to understand how Gen AI as a fundamental infrastructure transforms the production and distribution of technology-enabled businesses.”

Okoro said the fund continues its pan-African commitment, seeking new investment opportunities, particularly in underserved markets, and through its team and partner investors in Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other countries. , said it plans to continue exploring other ecosystems, including Tunisia.

“We believe it is important to take a pan-African and sector-agnostic approach given market diversity, macro changes and underserved markets for investors,” he previously said. said Mr. Okoro, who has extensive experience in the technology and investment fields after his previous roles. Executives at Omidyar Network and Google Africa.
“We are definitely looking at diversity in our portfolio, not just in terms of gender and founders, but also in terms of sectors and markets.”

The Berod Kepple Fund joins a growing number of African VC funds backed by Japanese institutional investors looking to diversify risk. Recently, Novastar Ventures also received investment from Mitsui OSK Lines Group and his SBI Holdings.

“As an investor, our connection to Japan is important and we hope to extend that to broader Asia connections in the future. Immerse yourself in the stories and experiences and see economic transformation within your lifetime.” I think it's important to work with investors and other partners in the markets where we can do this,” Okoro said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to learn, partner, share, and even interact with another part of the world where their experiences are more resonant. to support them and enable them to grow.”



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