Japan’s Samurai Incubate has launched Samurai Africa Fund II, a new $18.3 million fund to invest in startups in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria with ticket sizes of about $46,000 to $460,000.
Samurai Incubate is looking to invest in startups seeking seed to series A rounds in Fintech, insuretech, logistics, Medtech, healthcare, retail and e-commerce, AgriTech, transport and mobility, and entertainment in these three markets.
Dubbed Samurai Africa Fund II, the fund is a follow on of its first fund which has been investing and supporting growth in startups operating on the continent of Africa, and are currently providing investment and incubation support to 18 companies.
“In order to promote and accelerate this activity, we have decided to establish a second African fund,” the firm announced. “The Samurai Africa Fund II will target African countries, mainly Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Investment areas include finance and insurance, logistics, medical and healthcare, retail and e-commerce, energy, agriculture, transportation and mobility, and entertainment, and support people’s lives in ways that start-ups will break the common sense.”
Samurai Africa is currently commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct research on the promotion of entrepreneurship and the formation of a startup ecosystem in the African region. In the future, Africa No. 2 Fund will seek the recruitment of investors with the goal of a total fund of 2 billion yen ($18,214,000)
The fund started as Leapfrog Ventures in May of 2018 but rebranded to Samurai Incubate Africa in 2019. Samurai Africa I invested in startups in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa and has added Nigeria to its second fund.
Samurai Africa 1 invested in Senri, a sales optimization platform for manufacturing and distribution businesses in Africa, Kenya’s Biashara Bot, and Rwandan regional FinTech startup Exuus.