African startups have a hot new fund to tap from, courtesy of Endeavor Catalyst, the innovative $100MM+ co-investment fund that invests in qualifying rounds of $5M+in both early stage and late stage startups built by Endeavor Entrepreneurs. The fund has closed its third fund at $134 million. This $134M Fund III represents the largest Endeavor Catalyst fund to date, surpassing the $120M target goal originally set. It also brings Endeavor Catalyst’s total assets under management (“AUM”) up to $250M.
Here Is What You Need To Know
- The $134 million 3rd Fund “Endeavor Catalyst III” saw investments from Jordan’s Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) which invested $2 million and from other Jordanian Limited Partners (“LPs”), which invested $1.7 million, according to a statement by its Managing Director, Allen Taylor. The rest of the amount was secured from a galaxy of international investors.
- Having invested earlier in some African startups: Egypt’s Swvl and Vezeeta as well as Kenya’s CopiaKenya, Cellulant and South Africa’s Entersekt, Endeavor Catalyst is an innovative, rules-based co-investment fund through which Endeavor invests into its portfolio companies led by high-impact entrepreneurs around the world.
- Launched in 2012, Endeavor Catalyst has raised $250M across three funds and made 150+ investments to date across 30+ different markets.
- Endeavor Catalyst operates as a separate entity from Endeavor, but benefits from Endeavor’s network and infrastructure in terms of sourcing and pipeline cultivation. Endeavor Catalyst’s Limited Partners are primarily individuals or organizations who already actively participate in the Endeavor network as mentors, board members, and even Endeavor Entrepreneurs themselves.
Read also: A New $5 Million For Kenya’s eCommerce Company, CopiaKenya, One Year After Raising $26 million
How Does Endeavor Catalyst Invest In Startups?
Following a disciplined, rules-based investment process, Endeavor Catalyst invests alongside professional venture capital and growth equity firms into the equity financing rounds of Endeavor Entrepreneurs.
The main rules of investment by Endeavor Catalyst are:
- Investment only in the companies of Endeavor Entrepreneurs — these entrepreneurs have successfully passed Endeavor’s rigorous selection process. For instance, of the 5,000 companies screened by Endeavor Brazil last year, only 12 companies were selected to join the Endeavor network.
- Participation in rounds of at least US$5 million+ in equity capital;
- The round in question needs to be led by a qualified institutional investor.
If these criteria are met, Endeavor Catalyst seeks to invest in up to 10% of the round, with a maximum investment of US$2 million. Endeavor Catalyst portfolio companies continue to receive support services from Endeavor.
Endeavor also curates introductions between Endeavor Entrepreneurs and venture capital and growth equity investors through its Investor Network program.
At its most recent International Selection Panels (ISPs) in Cairo and Madrid in March and April, 2019 Endeavor selected a total of 55 entrepreneurs from 26 markets into its network, meaning it now supports 1,880 entrepreneurs leading 1,178companies in 34 markets around the world. Of the 55, 11 are from Africa, including four from Egypt, namely Ameer Sherif, the founder of jobs companies WUZZUF and Forasna, and Marwan Kenawy, Momtaz Moussa and Ayman Essawy, the co-founders of loyalty solutions developer Dsquares. Nigeria is also represented by four entrepreneurs, namely Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola and HealthPlus’ Bukky George, and Moses Babatope and Kene Okwuosa of the FilmHouse and FilmOne Group. Also selected were Moroccan Zineb Drissi-Kaitouni, who founded e-health platform DabaDoc, along with Ramla Jarrar and Firas Jabloun, the co-founders of Tunisian marketing company MASS Analytics.
Most recently, Obi Ozor and Ife Oyedele II, co-founders of Nigerian digital logistics company Kobo360, were also accepted into the network.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer