Small Foundation, an Irish registered charity with a focus on poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has invested an undisclosed amount in Capria Ventures. 

This engagement will support Capria’s activities in the early-stage investment space.

Conor Brosnan, CEO, Small Foundation, said: “Supporting highly leveraged opportunities to drive sustained impact in SSA is at the core of Small Foundation’s work. We value mission-aligned partners like Capria who help unlock access to finance for local fund managers across the African continent.”

“We are pleased to support Capria’s goal of overcoming the multi-layered challenge of establishing financial intermediaries in complex economic systems across SSA. This investment will help enterprises in SSA have access to funding, enabling them to create jobs and opportunities across the continent.” 

Capria leads the largest network of collaborating fund managers in emerging markets to deliver returns and scaled impact.

Capria brings venture capital innovation and global best practices to local venture capital, private equity and innovative debt funds, managed by local investment experts.

Capria’s network of investing partners collectively manage more than $400m in assets deployed in early-stage and early growth companies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.  

Capria is committed to seeing a thriving ecosystem for African small and medium enterprises and are focused on providing the capital to enable this on a commercial basis. 

This long-term partnership will support Capria’s growing work in SSA. 

Jack Knellinger, Partner at Capria Ventures, said: “Our relationship with Small Foundation began in 2018 when Small helped Capria establish an office in Nairobi. Since then, Capria has been constantly on the lookout for strong fund managers in SSA.”

“Small Foundation and Capria Ventures have sealed a decade-long pact to further mutual objectives in the African continent, which is to invest and support the growth of emerging fund managers, primarily in SSA.”

“The funds will be utilised to scale up operations in Africa as well as to increase the global footprint of our firm,” he added.