Climate venture builder Persistent said on Tuesday it had launched a $70 million early-stage investment fund to support climate-focused startups across Africa, along with a $5 million venture building facility to provide operational support to emerging companies.
The Persistent Africa Climate Venture Fund (ACV Fund), domiciled in Mauritius, reached a first close of $52 million and will focus on early-stage companies in energy, agriculture, and resource transitions. The fund will invest primarily from pre-seed through Series A, with flexibility for follow-on capital in high-performing ventures.
The fund combines traditional equity investment with Persistent’s venture building platform, which provides tailored support in areas such as strategy, finance, technology, legal, and marketing to accelerate growth.
“Achieving the first close of the Persistent ACV Fund is a strong show of confidence in Persistent and the fund’s strategy,” the company said, noting early-stage climate innovation in Africa is “investable at scale.”
The fund uses a blended finance model, offering private investors first-loss and priority return protection to reduce risk and attract commercial capital. The accompanying $5 million Venture Building Facility (VBF) is funded by the Nordic Development Fund and the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO.
The fund’s anchor investors include FSD Africa Investments, which committed $10 million, along with the Nordic Development Fund and the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa. Additional investors include the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Soros Economic Development Fund, Impact Fund Denmark, and philanthropic foundations.
Persistent said the fund aims to mitigate over 17 million tons of CO₂, benefit more than 7 million people—half of them women—create 60,000 direct jobs, provide 420,000 households with electricity, and catalyze $450 million in additional investment across Africa.
“Closing Africa’s climate financing gap requires more than capital,” said Anne-Marie Chidzero, chief investment officer of FSD Africa Investments. “It requires the right fund managers, supported at the right moment, through structures that give other investors confidence to follow.”
Persistent, founded nearly 14 years ago, has previously invested in solar energy, e-mobility, and energy efficiency ventures that have improved over 10 million lives, created more than 20,000 jobs, and avoided over 2 million tons of CO₂ emissions.