The Partech Africa Fund has closed €125M( $143m) more than double the size of its first closing a year ago at €57M ($70M) and launched operations in East Africa.
Nairobi-based Ceasar Nyagah is joining the team as Investment Officer based in Nairobi, Kenya. Ceasar will help boost the activity of the fund in East Africa.
“This is a pioneering work in Africa and we are very excited to onboard key talents such as Matthieu and Ceasar and work hard with them to set the standards for a new generation of Africa-based investors” commented Tidjane Deme.“After launching the Dakar office last year, it is also key for us to set now a base in East Africa with a Nairobi office”, explains Tidjane Dème, General Partner at Partech.
With the backing of over 40 different investors comprising of financial institutions, major corporate partners and successful entrepreneurs, Partech Africa sets out with the largest VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa.
Partech Africa now also counts on KfW, the German Development Bank (on behalf of BMZ, the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development), FMO, the Dutch Development Bank and the African Development Bank Group as its investors.
On the corporate side, Partech Africa was backed from the start by major global mobile operator Orange and leading emerging market actors such as Edenred and JCDecaux Holding. These pioneering investors have been joined by top tier global players such as Bertelsmann and L’Oréal as well as successful African champions such as Axian Group, TEXAF.
Some of the major financial institutions driving investment in Africa back the fund: joining the European Investment Bank (EIB), IFC, member of the World Bank Group and Averroès Finance III (fund of funds managed by Bpifrance and co-sponsored with Proparco),
With this final closing, Partech Africa confirms its position as a major go-to platform for tech financing on the continent, with a strong capability to leverage much more capital thanks to its partners.
The fund is positioned for series A and B financing rounds in startups which are changing the way technology is used in education, mobility, finance, delivery, energy, etc. It has already made two investments in 2018: TradeDepot, in Nigeria, and Yoco, in South Africa, and is expected to close even more deals in 2019.
“We are really proud to see major global investors rally around our vision and ambition to support extraordinary entrepreneurs building digital champions for Africa and emerging markets” said Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech. “Our first investments in Yoco and TradeDepot provide strong showcases of how these champions can transform whole sectors such as retail and payments in this region”.