Investors update: Capria reaches first close of $100m fund to back startups in Africa, others

Capria reaches first close of $100m fund to back startups in Africa, others

Highlights

• Capria Ventures, a leading Global South specialist firm investing in early-growth Global South startups, has announced the first close of its $100 million fund.
• The company invests in tech founders with limitless aspirations, connecting them into a uniquely-collaborative network, and activates strong relationships between hundreds of founders and leading local VC firms in the tech hubs of the Global South.
• Its new fund will focus on investing in 20-25 tech startups in the entrepreneurial hotspots of Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. 

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

With a young and dynamic population, growing economies, and a surge in innovation, Africa is set to take center stage in global entrepreneurship. Capria recognizes this and has already closed investments for its new fund in promising startups in Nigeria and Egypt, including MAX (mobility) and Paymob (fintech). Its new fund will seek founders harnessing the potential of generative AI to transform companies across multiple sectors, as well as adding a new focus on climate startups.

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42Markets raises $10m from Convergence Partners to expand its portfolio

Highlights

• Financial and capital markets-focused fintech investment group 42Markets has received $10 million in growth funding from Convergence Partners to advance the growth and development of its portfolio companies.
• The company describes itself as an incubator of specialized fintech businesses with deep expertise in financial and capital markets.
• 42Markets’s portfolio includes Mesh, a trading platform, Andile, a financial and capital markets advisory platform, as well as South African-based FX Flow which is a foreign currency risk management system that provides a real-time view of foreign currency exposure and hedges.

Source: TechCabal

Our Takeaway

In recent years, Africa has witnessed significant growth in financial and capital markets-focused fintech startups leveraging mobile technology and digital platforms to provide access to investment products and services to individuals and businesses. The growth of these fintechs has been fueled by a supportive regulatory environment and increasing investor interest from firms like 42Markets. Earlier this year, the buyout firm Convergence Partners raised $296 million to buy African technology assets. The capital raise was one of the first private equity funds secured for sub-Saharan Africa this year and brought the total funds under management at Convergence to about $600 million. 

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Johannesburg stock exchange records second listing of the year

Highlights

• The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has announced a new copper listing on the Alternative Exchange (AltX Board), Copper 360 Limited (CPR). 
• Copper 360 is a copper mining company with operations based in the Northern Cape, with a focus on producing premium copper that will yield a high cash margin.
• This is the second company to list on the JSE this year, pushing up the number of listed companies on the bourse to 303 with an overall market capitalization of R22.76 trillion (around $1.2 trillion).

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

Copper 360 is now one of 44 companies in the basic materials sector listed on both the Main Board and AltX Board of the JSE. A listing on the JSE gives companies like that access to deep and highly liquid capital markets while providing investors exposure to Africa’s great growth potential through a trusted entry point. The AltX market focuses on good quality, small and medium-sized high-growth companies while providing smaller companies a springboard onto the JSE Main Board with a clear growth path and access to capital.