Nigeria-headquartered venture capital firm Ventures Platform has raised an oversubscribed $84 million second fund to invest in early-stage technology companies across Africa as it expands its investment strategy beyond its home market.
The new fund represents a significant increase from Ventures Platform’s first institutional fund, which raised $46 million in 2022, and gives the firm additional capital to pursue investments across some of Africa’s largest startup ecosystems.
Ventures Platform plans to invest in companies operating in fintech, healthcare, software-as-a-service and other sectors where technology can improve access to essential products and services or address infrastructure constraints.
The venture capital firm is also increasingly interested in artificial intelligence businesses capable of changing the economics of delivering services across African markets.
Founding Partner Kola Aina said the firm’s interest in AI extends beyond startups simply adding artificial intelligence features to existing products.
Instead, Ventures Platform is looking for businesses where AI can materially lower operating costs, address labour shortages or enable business models that would otherwise be difficult to scale across African markets.
The new fund also marks a geographic expansion for the investment firm.
While Ventures Platform built much of its reputation investing in Nigerian startups, Fund II will pursue opportunities across the continent.
The firm has already deployed capital from the new fund into five companies operating in Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, indicating that the broader Pan-African strategy is already underway.
Individual investments from the fund could reach as much as $3 million, while Ventures Platform expects to deploy the capital over the next three to four years.
The larger cheque size could allow the firm to provide more capital to promising startups as they progress beyond their earliest financing rounds.
Ventures Platform’s first fund concentrated primarily on pre-seed and seed-stage investments, helping the firm establish an institutional early-stage investment model focused on African technology companies.
The $84 million Fund II gives it considerably greater firepower at a time when Africa’s venture capital industry has become more selective following the funding boom experienced earlier in the decade.
Rather than pursuing growth at almost any cost, investors have increasingly focused on sustainable revenue, capital efficiency and businesses addressing fundamental economic needs.
Ventures Platform’s expanded strategy reflects that shift.
The firm is targeting businesses capable of using technology to widen access to essential services, solve infrastructure deficiencies and create new categories of consumption across African economies.
The fundraising also demonstrates continued institutional investor appetite for African technology opportunities despite a more difficult global venture capital environment.
For Ventures Platform, the larger fund represents a transition from a predominantly Nigeria-focused early-stage investor into a broader African venture capital platform.
Its ability to deploy as much as $3 million into individual companies could also position the firm to remain invested in promising businesses for longer rather than providing only their earliest institutional capital.
With investments from Fund II already reaching Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, the $84 million vehicle is expected to further diversify Ventures Platform’s portfolio while maintaining its focus on technology businesses addressing large African markets.
