Africa-focused venture capital (VC) firm Atlantica Ventures is raising a US$50 million fund that will invest in tech and tech-enabled businesses from seed stage onwards. Founded in 2019 by Aniko Szigetvari and Ik Kanu, who have previously worked for the likes of IFC, Helios and Convergence and have extensive angel investing experience, Atlantica Ventures counts among its portfolio the likes of Paystack, recently acquired by Stripe, and Sendy. Its new US$50 million pan-African VC fund, through which it has already invested in Nigerian startups Curacel and OnePipe, is financed by development financial institutions, a US fund of funds, and various high net worth individuals, and will invest in tech and tech-enabled businesses at seed stage. Primary target markets are Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tanzania, which between them represent 60 per cent of Africa’s GDP, while it is focused on fintech, logistics, agri-tech, digital security, IoT, and B2B marketplaces. Atlantica Ventures encourages portfolio companies to work with each other to maximise value. Its African and global networks also facilitate these companies to scale faster to other markets and regions.
SOURCE: DISRUPT AFRICA