Morocco’s Al Mada Holding Group announced earlier this week the launch of a pan-African venture capital fund to invest in the continent’s fast-growing startups.
According to converging news reports, the Al Mada-backed venture fund aims to attract innovative investors and participate in the exponentially developing African startup ecosystem with a budget of MAD1.1 billion (€100 million).
The new venture capital aims to capitalize on the significant growth prospects of the African startup industry, which continues to set records year after year, growing 12-fold in the last five years while receiving only 1% of funding from global venture capital firms.
The venture capital fund aims to help promising technology-oriented firms focus on future areas such as financial services (fintech), health tech, logistics, education, and renewable energy expand and emerge.
In addition to providing direct funding, the Al Mada venture fund will equally offer startup access to the fund’s large network of partners.
Posing as a vertical accelerator venture capital, Al Mada aims to responsibly invest in the continent’s talents and future industries.
“Al Mada is delighted to bring its 100-year experience as a pan-African inverter to young innovative entrepreneurs who are building the Africa of tomorrow,” said the Moroccan company. “Startups will thus be able to rely on our solid expertise and that of our teams specializing in Venture Capital.”
African startups are continuing to thrive, supported by the exponential growth of fintech startups. In 2021, African startups raised a total of $4.65 billion. This year, startups across the continent have raised $1 billion in a record seven weeks, prompting experts to state that the African startup landscape may reach $7.3 billion at the end of 2022.
