Hong Kong VC firm partners with Nairobi, Cape Town Garage

Hong Kong venture capital firm and entrepreneurial hub Nest recently signed a partnership agreement with the Nairobi Garage and Cape Town Garage to connect three major hubs spanning Africa and Asia.

The announcement comes after Nest announced its expansion to Nairobi earlier this year to tap into the continent’s talent.

Essentially, the partnership gives any member of Nairobi and Cape Town Garage a place to work from when visiting Hong Kong, and in turn gives companies incubated at Nest access to a space in Kenya and South Africa.

Nest is described as Hong Kong’s only private, full-service startup ecosystem. The firm has strong ties with major Asian banks such as DBS Bank as well as insurance provider AIA Group Limited.

Read more: Hong Kong VC firm Nest expands to Nairobi to support continent’s talents

Aaron Fu, the managing partner for Nest in Africa, says he hopes to help startups looking to expand either in Africa or Asia:

On one hand, we see startups from Africa with both the ambition and ability to scale globally. On the other, we see the potential for solutions developed by startups in Asia to deploy into Africa, this partnership allows us to leverage the resources of both organisations to create another piece towards an ecosystem which will facilitate the potential of both those trends.

General manager at Nairobi Garage Hannah Clifford added that this partnership wouldhelp reduce the number of barriers to entry for African innovators to global markets.

“With our mantra of connect, co-work and create, our space has always encouraged an ecosystem of knowledge and resource sharing,” said Cape Town Garage’s Adelé Bezuidenhout and Stephanie Brummer.

“By expanding this ecosystem into Hong Kong our startups are able to network, collaborate and build synergistic relationships into other, bigger markets,” the pair added.