Investor Updates: September 7 2022 - Endure Capital closes first round of $50 million fund.

Endure Capital closes first round of $50 million fund

Highlights

• Egypt-based Endure Capital has completed the first close of its new $50 million fund to invest in early-stage startups across Africa.
• ‘Endure 21’ is Endure Capital’s second early-stage VC fund that will focus its investments on impact-driven startups in Africa, with a selective approach to investing in growth-stage startups globally.
• LaIunched in 2015 by Tarek Fahim, Endure Capital was one of the investors in Careem, as well as MaxAB and Breadfast. The limited partners who have invested in its new fund include British International Investment (BII), and Egypt’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA).

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

An increasing number of funds with $10 million to $50 million of capital to deploy are targeting opportunities in Africa. Uncovered Fund, LoftyInc Capital, Savannah Fund, and Ventures Platform are some of such that have launched in the past year. More so, Egypt already has one of the strongest early-stage funding ecosystems on the continent and this new fund should further strengthen support for young startups. Endure’s first fund has made a 43% return and 4.3x multiple on its investments, which puts it in the top quartile of performing funds of its vintage year. 

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Seedstars Africa appoints new partner to back more founders

Highlights

• Seedstars Africa Ventures, a pan-African early-stage fund for startups, has appointed Bruce Nsereko-Lule as its new general partner, to help it deploy more capital and provide the much-needed technical support for founders across the continent.
• Part of Seedstars Group, the firm provides early-stage capital of up to $2 million in seed and Series A rounds. 
• The fund, which plans to deploy more capital over the next few months, will tap Nsereko-Lule’s vast experience, and the networks he has gained over the years as an active venture capitalist in Africa.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Nsereko-Lule’s appointment comes just over a month after Seedstars announced the launch of its second seed stage fund targeting 100 pre-seed and seed stage tech startup companies in emerging companies across regions, including Africa, and for which it raised $ 20 million from notable investors including the IFC, Visa Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation. The firm counts LBO France among its limited partners, and through its Africa unit has, so far, invested over $5 million in five startups, including Kenya’s ISP Poa Internet and Nigeria’s grid management SaaS for electricity distribution utilities Beacon Power Services, since it was founded in 2020.

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Flat6Labs, SANAD launch agritech accelerator in Egypt

Highlights

• Egypt-based VC Flat6labs and SANAD Entrepreneurship Academy have launched an agritech accelerator program to assist 10 to 12 startups in each cycle.
• The program will give startups access to capital and help them improve their business models, product development, customer relationships, marketing plans, and financial management.
• The collaboration marks the beginning of Flat6Labs’ mission to support emerging businesses in the agri-food, food security, and rural development sectors while aiding the development of the agritech industry in Egypt.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

With digital transformation progressing rapidly across industries, and the agriculture industry being a core pillar of the Egyptian economy, the need to digitize the agriculture industry has increased dramatically. Empowering and promoting Egypt’s agri-tech sector is expected to result in advancements in automated machinery and robotics, increasing the efficiency of agricultural productions by precisely locating nutrient availability, checking for diseases, predicting them, and many other useful facilities.