Ambo Ventures, the first pan-African VC of its kind to focus on the content’s green economy has launched a $50m fund to invest in seed stage, Series A and select Series B rounds of African green economy startups.
Ambo Fund is ready to realize its aspirational green ambitions, led by founders with regional experience and backed by partners on the ground across the continent.
“Ambo was built on the premise of giving top Egyptian startups and scaleups access to African markets, and vice versa,” says co-founder Jude Bouhmouch, adding that, “Africa presents the most exciting and untapped opportunity for Egyptian companies. In addition to Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are also significant markets in terms of startup activity. Nigeria and Kenya alone have two-and-half times the population of Egypt.”
A Look At Ambo Ventures
Founded this year by Jude Bouhmouch and Loic Amado, Ambo Ventures parades notable names in its ranks.
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Jude Bouhmouch, has handled $1.2 billion in public equity funds, invested in and counseled dozens of entrepreneurs on fundraising and corporate finance, and helped develop Google’s Sustainable Development Goals Accelerator. Meanwhile, Loic Amado, the second co-founder, introduced Uber on the continent, notably in Egypt, resulting in a 10x increase in revenue. Their knowledge of the region is backed up by on-the-ground collaborators like Kenyan Mark Kuria.
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As a Venture Partner, he has substantial expertise with early-stage investments in Kenya, where he built a family office with a 40%+ IRR in East Africa. Lina Naciri, located in Morocco, offers experience as an Operating Partner, having launched one of Africa’s largest innovation challenges, which saw her source over 700 innovative tech businesses from across the world (72 countries, 80 percent from Africa).
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Meanwhile, Karim Samra, a co-founder of Changelabs, has been appointed as a Venture Partner, with responsibility for the fund’s efforts in Egypt. Samra finds himself in the midst of what is arguably the operation’s crux, or at least one of them, with his efforts in Egypt holding a key to Ambo’s potential impact beyond cash.
Changelabs’ involvement extends beyond Samra, whose VC University Program, in collaboration with GIZ Egypt and ENdure Capital, is assisting high-potential regional VCs in entering Egypt and raising funds. Ambo and Changelabs are also collaborating on the latter’s Scale Up to Green accelerator in Egypt, where 15 of the most innovative green energy, resource efficiency, and agritech startups are currently working. It all benefits the fund, with its many ties to Africa placing it in a solid position to make the kind of impact it wants in businesses.
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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