Africa Development Bank approves $7.5m investment in Kenyan VC fund

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $7.5-million investment in Nairobi-based venture capital firm Africa Tech Ventures.

In a statement on Tuesday (18 December) following the approval of the deal by the board, the AfDB said that the equity investment forms part of its Boost Africa Investment Programme — a collaboration with the European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Africa Tech Ventures, which was founded in 2015 by Mairead Cahill and Eline Blaauboer, provides seed investment to early-stage companies that improve and facilitate access of essential goods and services to the underserved on the continent, while promoting inclusive growth.

The African Development Bank’s $7.5-million investment in Africa Tech Ventures is part of the bank’s Boost Africa Investment Programme

The VC fund targets sectors such as consumer goods, corporate services, education, logistics, energy, fintech, agriculture and healthtech.

It aims to provide between 15 to 20 startups with capital, with the hope that this will help these firms to take on at least 1 million users each.

Africa Tech Ventures’ portfolio currently includes Twiga Foods, Cellutant, Pezesha, Farm Drive, Eneza Education, mSurvey, Sendy, Software Technologies, Barefoot Power, Lynk and iProcure.

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