TLcom has announced a $70m first close for its $150m Africa-focused tech fund, firmly positioning the investor to become the largest independent VC firm fully dedicated to the continent.

A second close of the fund is expected later in 2022.

Investors in the first round included Allianz through AfricaGrow, its joint venture with DEG,  Bertelsmann, King Philanthropies, the TLcom team and FBNQuest from the private sector, and major DFIs such as CDC Group, IFC, Proparco and Swedfund. 

Martin Ewald, Lead Portfolio Manager Impact Investments, AfricaGrow/Allianz Global Investors, said; “One thing is clear to those who are close to the African VC market: it will grow. We at AfricaGrow believe much more is possible in terms of capital influx into the continent especially in the VC space.”

“There is considerable upside for everyone if investment activities accelerate even more: African businesses can boost productivity, gain in terms of competitiveness and technological edge and tens of millions more Africans could gain stable employment while generating returns for investors.”

Ijeoma Agboti, Managing Director at FBNQuest Funds, added: “FBNQuest Funds is pleased to have participated in the first close of TLcom’s second edition pan-African Tech Fund (TIDE Africa Fund II). This follows our first close commitment to the manager’s maiden fund (TIDE Africa Fund I).”

“Our decision to back TLcom on its second fund was based on the fund manager’s demonstrated track record of investing in high growth tech companies with strong business fundamentals and implementing value creation strategies that improve the operations and profitability of these companies. We remain confident that TLcom is well-positioned to continue to deliver on our shared objective to provide capital, the required operational support and access to international partnerships to technology companies in the Africa region through the TIDE Africa Fund II. At FBNQuest Funds, we recognize the transformational role that technology must play in narrowing the gap between industries in Africa and the rest of the world, and we are keen to play a pivotal role in enabling this growth.”

TLcom will expand its existing focus on fast-growth, tech-enabled African startups to Egypt, as well as strengthen its long-standing presence across East and West Africa.

With ticket sizes ranging from $500,000 - $15m, TLcom expects to add an additional 20 early-stage startups to its portfolio with an emphasis on Seed and Series A stages and will target entrepreneurs tackling some of the continent’s most complex challenges in sectors including fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education and e-commerce.

Maurizio Caio, Nairobi-based Founder and Managing Partner at TLcom, said: “Since the closing of our previous fund, African tech has secured more high-value financing rounds, exits and M&As than ever before and this is only just the beginning. It is becoming increasingly evident that our sector has broken into a new era of maturity driven by very strong business fundamentals that African founders are demonstrating not only in the fintech space, but across a huge number of the continent’s largely underserved markets.”

“As we partner with some of the world’s leading global investors for our new fund, this is not only an endorsement of the massive value generation upside on the continent, but also of our proven track record in identifying and supporting entrepreneurs successfully winning and redefining Africa’s key verticals. In order to contribute to unlocking the next phase of Africa’s huge economic upside, we’ll be mobilizing our new fund to strengthen our partnership with African founders, with a special emphasis on female entrepreneurs, as well as our role as the leading local partner of choice for global VCs increasingly looking at Africa.”