IFC has invested $6 million into First Circle Capital, an early-stage venture fund based in Africa, to invest into high-potential fintech startups across Africa.
IFC invested $6 million including $2 million from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) into the fund whose targeted fund size was $30 million.
The African banking sector remains one of the most proftable globally, yet incumbents have been slow to adapt to the continent’s dynamic and fast-growing consumer base. This has created a substantial market gap that fntech startups are well-positioned to fll. According to a 2023 report by BCG and QED Investors, Africa’s fntech revenues are projected to grow 13-fold by 2030, the fastest pace of any region worldwide.
Founded and led by former M-Pesa executive and fintech investor Selma Ribica and former emerging markets entrepreneur Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule, First Circle Capital has backed a number of early‑stage African fintech companies including Power, TurnStay, Opareta, Scale, E‑Doc Online, Orca, Credify, MNZL, Pumpkn, Terminal, Balad, Oola adding to 15 investments across 8 African markets, with 30% of companies led or cofounded by women and 50% operating in multiple countries.
First Circle Capital’s Power, is an earned-wage access solution that allows workers to access their salaries before payday, improving financial flexibility. TurnStay is a travel-tech startup providing fintech solutions that streamline cross-border payments, catering specifically to the travel industry. Opareta builds digital infrastructure for mobile-money agent networks, strengthening the foundation for African fintech ecosystems.
First Circle Capital has also invested in Scale, a card-issuing platform that enables fintechs to issue cards more efficiently, and E-Doc Online, which focuses on financial data infrastructure to improve access and management of financial information. Orca is a fraud orchestration platform dedicated to fraud detection and prevention, while Credify works to digitize logistics and trade finance for SMEs. MNZL provides asset-backed financing solutions, and Pumpkn supports agribusiness SMEs through specialized financing.
First Circle Capital also backs in Terminal, which offers logistics and cross-border shipping solutions across Africa, and Balad, which builds infrastructure for remittance services. In the insurance sector, Oola and WiASSUR focus on digitizing insurance products and brokering services for car, health, home, and travel insurance. For micro-retail payments, WafR provides infrastructure that simplifies transactions at small-scale retail points. Finally, CredRails builds open-banking infrastructure to strengthen the financial ecosystem and enable seamless integration for fintech services.
Overall, First Circle Capital’s portfolio shows its focus on fintechs, payment’s infrastructure, and financial inclusion across Africa, hence investing in startups that address critical gaps in payments, lending, insurance, and logistics. First Circle Capital builds a stronger Series A pipeline not just for First Circle, but for the broader investor ecosystem. The fund’s ability to prepare companies for institutional follow-on capital is already refected in the cross-border scale and commercial traction of its early portfolio.
