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Investors Earmark $60M For African Startups At The Africa Business Angel Forum

Investors Earmark $60M For African Startups At The Africa Business Angel Forum

A group of investors, meeting at a recent Africa Business Angel Forum, announced that they plan to invest a combined $60 million to help scale up African startups.

Reewire, a fund founded by Neils Ellegards, a partner at U.S.-based United+, announced a $50 million fund focusing on African ventures, according to a Techloy report. Aurorae, a fund partly backed by French insurance giant AXA, said it will investor $10 million on the continent.

AXA recently invested $84 million for an 8 percent stake in Africa Internet Group, one of the largest e-commerce companies on the continent and holding firm for Jumia.

The March 3 event was organized by NewGenAngels, an exclusive international investment club of New Generation of Angels focusing on Africa. Several other speakers mentioned the amount their companies have invested or plan to invest in startups on the continent.

Simon Glossop, the CEO of CAMSCORP outlined how his company has invested in excess of $20 million in Africa, while Tangwena Nelson, the CFO of Homestrings, said company has so far mobilized $20 million from the diaspora and channeled it into African investments on their platform.

“The amount of capital announced and committed speaks of the desire by international investors to bet on the new entrepreneurial ventures that are changing the Africa narrative,” said Eric Osiakwan, Founder of Angel Fair Africa.

The event also saw diverse scale-up companies pitch for investment ranging between $300,000 and $1 million. Some of the company includes Tupomoja (Tanzania), Impact enterprises (Zambia), OkunBeachwear (UK), and BigCabal Media, (Nigeria).

Over 70 investors, entrepreneurs, professionals and scaleup ventures from 20 different countries attended the inaugural Africa Business Angel Forum event.