Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (“VKAV”), a pan-African VC firm that invests in high-growth startups tackling challenges and building the digital economy across Africa, announced that it has closed its first fund at $60 million. Key institutional investors in the fund include SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Japan International Corporation Agency, and Japan ICT Fund. New investors joining the final close include SCM Capital, formerly known as Sterling Capital Markets Limited, from Nigeria and a few additional institutional investors from Japan, including Taiyo Holdings and C2C Global Education Japan. VKAV is the first fund by Verod-Kepple Africa Partners, a joint venture between Verod Capital Management, a West African private equity firm investing in mid-sized enterprises across sectors, and Kepple Africa Ventures.
With a focus on growth stage companies, VKAV is tackling the growing gap of funding available, particularly from locally-based investors, for companies moving to Series A and B stages in Africa, The fund will focus on 3 key themes: companies building digital infrastructure across different sectors; inefficiency solvers who are solving for friction primarily between businesses or between businesses and consumers; and market creators who are creating economic opportunities for people, based on the changing dynamics of the overall African economy and demographics.
Tingting Peng, Chief Capital, Strategy & Impact Officer at Moove notes, “At Moove we share VKAV’s mission to foster prosperity and reduce economic inequality across the continent, and we’re pleased to see more impactful investment into the African tech ecosystem. Having just closed our Series B funding round, we’re grateful for VKAV’s continued support in our journey. We look forward to working together with the team to supercharge our growth.”
The fund has so far backed 12 companies including Moove Africa, KOKO Networks, Ceviant, Chari, Shuttlers, Nawy, Julaya, NowPay, Chefaa, Cloudline, Zone, and mTek-Services.
“VKAV has provided real and tangible value-add to KOKO with our Japanese market entry process. Additionally, we’ve seen significant benefits in our African government relations strategy. They are an unusual firm, combining deep insight into African operating realities with an incredible network in Japan” says Greg Murray, co-founder and CEO of KOKO Networks.
The VKAV team are hands-on investors who are able to provide support from fundraising to partnerships, governance, ESG implementation, talent and legal to their portfolio companies. Their partnership with Verod is a critical part of this support. They are able to focus on bringing operational best practice and preparation for further fundraising and exit from the beginning. This support is more critical than ever as companies work to navigate the complex macroeconomic environment in Africa and look to expand to other markets globally.
Mostafa El-Beltagy, co-founder and CEO of Nawy, one of VKAV portfolio companies, shared his experience working with VKAV. “VKAV has been an amazing partner beyond the investment. The team is proactively and consistently seeking ways in which to help make the business more successful. We are very proud to have such a fund as a partner in our journey.”
