Ventures Platform, an early-stage “discovery” venture capital fund, has announced the first close of its $40m Pan-African, early-stage fund to invest in market-creating innovations. 

With this close led by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the new fund features participation from existing investors and some new leading names across Africa’s corporate and tech ecosystems, including UAC Nigeria, VFD Group, Gbenga Oyebode, Shola Akinlade (Paystack), and global investors like; Michael Seibel (Y Combinator) and Adam Draper. A second close of the fund is due to take place in early 2022 and will feature investment from select global institutional Investors and DFI’s.

Uche Orji, MD & CEO, NSIA, said: “Participation in this fund hits at the very core of the Authority’s objectives: stimulating growth by enabling new and innovative intramural technology to empower the continent.” 

“To harness and unleash Nigeria and Africa’s potential, we are of the opinion that investment in ventures in the innovation and technology space is essential. In this regard, the Authority is proud to play a role in facilitating what it expects will lead to the rise of Africa”. 

Since its launch in 2016, Ventures Platform has acted as a key partner and conduit for international funds and stakeholders seeking a reliable and experienced partner to do business in Africa. 

As part of a move to further deepen its expertise, Ventures Platform has also onboarded leading figures across African tech as Venture Partners, including; Seni Sulyman (ex-VP at Andela, ex-COO at Bellhop, Founder at Black Ops.)

Kola Aina, Founder and General Partner at Ventures Platform, said: “Over the last six years, we’ve backed close to 70 of Africa’s most compelling tech companies, building a robust portfolio which has featured one of the largest exits our sector witnessed to date through Paystack last year.” 

“As the incredible momentum in African tech continues to build, it's attracting unprecedented attention globally amongst traditional and institutional investors, and we’re delighted to welcome aboard some world-class, strategic stakeholders to our fund.” 

“As operators ourselves, we know what it takes to build a successful business on the continent, and we’ve spent years partnering with visionary founders effectively tackling some of Africa’s hardest problems - now is the time to go even further. We’re fully maximising our deep expertise navigating the nuances of the African market, and as we move ahead, we’re developing a global network of LPs in more established markets like Europe, the USA and Asia, many of whom partner with us due to our track record of backing winners, and they appreciate our on-the-ground experience and access to opportunities, which is vital for generating returns.”

With a ticket size up to $1m+ Ventures Platform is now positioned to fund follow-on rounds of successful startups building market-creating innovations across pre-seed, seed and Series A stages in sectors including Fintech, healthtech, enterprise SAAS, digital infrastructure and more. 

Ventures Platform will significantly deepen its long-standing presence in Nigeria and West Africa while also investing in select opportunities in East, North & Francophone Africa - that have the potential to expand into West Africa’s key markets.