Pan African investment firm, Janngo Capital has pledged to invest €60m in the growth of tech startups across Africa.
The investment firm focuses on the gender gap in the business and entrepreneurship space in Africa, as well as leveraging technology and capital to leapfrog development in Africa and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
With the goal to become one of the largest pan-African VC funds that will be able to deploy capital from seed through the growth stage, Janngo capital has already invested in three early-stage African startups.
After raising €60 million in funding, the firm has disclosed that the funds raised will be dedicated toward financing tech-enabled startups, accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.
Executive Chair of Janngo and Managing Partner of Janngo Capital, Fatoumata BA, disclosed that Janngo does not only intend to be financial partners of these startups but as operating partners with a very hands-on and long-term approach.
In her words; “Thanks to the support of the EIB, we will be able to invest between €50 000 and €5m, from seed through growth stage in startups all across Africa demonstrating the ability to deliver financial and social returns.
“Every past investment and every startup in our deal-flow is mapped against the 17 SDGs; their ability to create jobs for women, for young people and green jobs is also assessed.”
“We act not only as financial partners but as operating partners with a very hands-on and long-term approach as well as an ecosystem thinking. We have a decade to deliver on the Goals and the clock is ticking: we need more than positive capitalism, we need stakeholder capitalism.”
Fatoumata also disclosed that despite the fact that African women are known to be the most entrepreneurial in the world, there is still a wide funding gap for women entrepreneurs in the continent which the firm seeks to address.
She said; “At Janngo, we believe that talent is equally distributed between men and women but opportunities aren’t; especially in terms of access to capital.
“That is why we are proud to be a female-led VC fund investing 50% of our proceeds in startups founded, co-founded by, or benefiting women.”
