Artha India Ventures, a distinguished family office founded in 2012, has been making waves in the African startup ecosystem. The firm, which manages over ₹800+ crores ($100M) in third-party capital, has invested in over 80 high-performing startups across India, the USA, Israel, and Africa. Among its portfolio companies are renowned brands like OYO, Purplle, and Tala, to name a few.
Artha India Ventures’ most recent investment was in BuuPass, a Kenya-based B2B2C mobility marketplace that raised $1.3 million in a pre-seed round. However, the firm’s investment activities in Africa extend beyond BuuPass. Artha India Ventures has taken an early bet to back potential category winners with immense promise across sectors, making it a unique investment opportunity for African startups.
Anirudh A Damani, Director of Artha India Ventures, sees the African continent as a startup innovation hotbed, churning out many unique investment opportunities that will disrupt the market across sectors.
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Artha India Ventures’ portfolio includes investments in diverse sectors such as renewables, leasing, and institutional funds. Additionally, the firm operates a 10+ MW renewable energy portfolio and leases more than 100 cars, demonstrating its dedication to sustainable growth and business development.
BuuPass, which follows a B2B2C approach, provides fleet owners with a full-stack bus management system (‘BMS’) for managing their operations, inventory, and sales. The company helps customers search, compare and book their tickets across different channels through their marketplace, like websites, apps, and USSD codes. It currently has over 1,200 vehicles registered on its platform from over 25 bus companies and generated a GMV of $30 million in CY 2022.
The investment from Artha India Ventures will help BuuPass expand into East African markets with a special focus on Kenya and Uganda. The company aims to increase its market share in these markets and create a comprehensive continent-wide network of interconnected transport that makes traveling hassle-free for all.
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Artha India Ventures has taken an early bet to back potential category winners with immense promise across sectors. The firm’s commitment to sustainable growth and business development has made it a unique investment opportunity for African startups.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard