Launch Africa Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, has made its 100th investment, making it the most active investor in African tech startups, and has completed its first fund at $36.3 million.
“We assist the African founders of early-stage tech and tech-enabled companies to focus on what the continent needs right now — the rapid growth of businesses solving real-world problems combined with the creation of high-value jobs in sustainable ventures. We are proud to have helped many founders close their seed funding rounds in 4–6 weeks, notably faster than the 4–6 months it typically takes for early-stage founders to close rounds in Africa,” said partner Zachariah George.
Following the successful closing, Fund 1 announced its 100th investment at the end of May, with US$24 million invested in 108 early-stage technology and technology-enabled enterprises across 20 African countries.
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A Look At What The VC
Launch Africa Ventures, founded in July 2020 by Zachariah George and Janade du Plessis, with chairperson Margaret O’Connor also on the board, closed its first fund, Launch Africa Ventures Fund 1, in March for $36.3 million, with investments from 238 retail and institutional investors from 40 countries.
Launch Africa also encourages co-investment from its Limited Partners (LPs) by sharing due diligence, waiving fees, and absorbing charges for LPs in the fund’s seed and pre-Series A investments. Launch Africa LPs have invested more than $14 million in Launch Africa portfolio firms to far.
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“The Launch Africa team works with founders and expert advisors to fast-track exit opportunities for investors,” du Plessis said. “Providing our exit strategy during these challenging times instills investor confidence and brings significant benefits to the African tech ecosystem.”
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. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh