Seedstars Africa Ventures has secured a major $30 million capital commitment from the European Investment Bank (EIB) Global for its first pan-African venture capital fund targeting $80-100 million. This becomes the first major institutional investment for the fund focused on backing African startups.
The capital injection follows an earlier $8 million anchor investment from French private equity firm LBO France. The fresh funds will enable Seedstars Africa Ventures to continue supporting seed to Series B stage startups across Africa by bridging substantial capital gaps beyond accelerator programs.
Launching the Africa-focused Fund
In 2020, Seedstars Africa Ventures’ partners – Maxime Bouan, Tamim El Zein and Bruce Nsereko-Lule – collaborated with Seedstars Group, an emerging markets accelerator, to launch the larger-than-average Africa fund.
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By tapping into Seedstars’ existing infrastructure and market access, the VC firm aims to provide well-suited capital and critical post-acceleration support for high-potential founders across the continent.
As Bouan explained, “When we launched in 2020, very little capital was available beyond acceleration, so there was a clear need to provide more funding at this stage.”
By taking a pan-African approach from the onset and offering hands-on support, Seedstars Africa Ventures is looking to strengthen the early-stage capital continuum.
Offering Between $250K-$5M Per Startup
Based in Paris and Nairobi, the Africa-dedicated fund plans to deploy between $250,000 to $2 million initially in up to 30 startups, followed by $5 million as follow-on funding.
This capital will be complemented by access to Seedstars’ operational tools, networks and visibility to empower entrepreneurs.
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While sector-agnostic, Seedstars Africa Ventures is eyeing startups that enable basic needs or enhance efficiencies.
They are also bullish on tech but won’t overlook innovative brick-and-mortar businesses benefiting from digital advances. Up to 50% of the fund is also reserved for Francophone Africa – an overlooked yet high-potential region.
Africa Funds Critical for Startup Ecosystem
Commenting on EIB’s investment backed by EU’s development funds, regional head Edward Claessen noted Africa funds play an instrumental role by backing founders and ventures that spur job creation and economic growth.
Through LBO France’s initial capital, Seedstars Africa Ventures is already invested in four startups spanning internet services, energy, agritech and digital payments sectors in Kenya and Nigeria. The fresh multi-million-dollar commitment will now bolster these efforts.
Further illustrating emerging VC momentum, Seedstars group has deployed two separate funds totaling $26M into 26 African startups as well.
