Acasia Ventures, formerly Cairo Angels and venture capital investment arm of Acasia Group, has recently inaugurated its new office in Lagos, Nigeria, signaling its commitment to extending its reach across the African continent and establishing closer connections with local founders and stakeholders.
“We take pride in our Egyptian heritage, but we strongly believe in the future of the entire continent,” emphasized Biola Alabi, General Partner at Acasia Ventures. “By establishing our new office in Lagos, we aim to deepen our relationships with the market and foster in-person interactions within Nigeria.”
This move reinforces Acasia Ventures’ dedication to the African continent, with a particular focus on West Africa. The office is located within the Impact Hub building, affiliated with a global network of locally-founded and operated impact innovation incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, and nonprofit organizations.
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Acasia Ventures has already made investments in 13 startups, with 12 of them located in Africa and two specifically based in Nigeria — Credable and Fez Logistics. Given the ongoing realignment of Nigeria’s economy, coupled with global factors such as rising interest rates, post-COVID-19 recovery, high inflation, and concerns over a global recession, the investment opportunity is substantial.
“In times of economic crisis, we often witness the emergence of companies that shape a better future. Investing in these companies today is how we intend to contribute to Africa’s economic and social development,” stated Alabi.
Nigeria boasts one of the youngest populations on the continent, and the country’s new leadership is committed to fostering business growth, innovation, and technology as key pillars of its economic policy. Acasia Ventures plans to capitalize on this momentum and pave the way for its sister company, Acasia Impact, to collaborate with Nigerian corporations in developing tailored, sector-specific programs focused on entrepreneurship and innovation.
“Our new office will serve as a hub where founders and stakeholders can engage with us, while being situated at the heart of Impact Hub allows us to be at the center of Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem,” added Alabi.
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The establishment of this new office follows Acasia Group’s recent expansion efforts, including the setup of an office at the Dubai International Financial Centre Innovation Hub in the United Arab Emirates.
Acasia Ventures Lagos Acasia Ventures Lagos
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