Lateral Capital holds initial close of $50m venture fund

Lateral Capital, a US venture capital fund focused on sub-Saharan Africa, has announced that it has exceeded its initial closing target of $20-million for its Lateral Investment Partners I fund. This, after accepting its first limited partnership (LP) commitment in early 2018.

The VC — which has a presence in New York, Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg — said in a statement on Monday (27 January) that institutional investors and leading family offices across the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa participated in the fund which has a final close target of $50-million.

This initial close puts Lateral Capital on track to reach its final close target in 2020, the VC said.

Lateral Capital has announced that it has exceeded its initial closing target of $20m for its first fund

The fund aims to invest between $250 000 to $5-million in early and growth-stage companies.

The VC said it made its 10th portfolio investment late last year, backing Nairobi based fintech Lipalater, which in partnership with retailers, helps consumers to pay off household and other items over a period of time. The VC did not disclose how much it had invested in the platform.

The fund made three new and two follow on investments in 2020 and has set a target to review 1000 investment opportunities in 2020 to add up to six new portfolio companies in the form of equity or debt.

Lateral Capital is part of the Capria and Align17 impact investment networks.

Featured image: PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay