Azur Innovation Fund - Afrikan Heroes

Azur Innovation Fund Invests $1M in Morocco’s DataPathology to Revolutionize Cancer Diagnosis

May 30, 2023

Azur Innovation Fund, a public-private investment fund specialized in financing innovative startups in Morocco, continues its commitment to supporting young companies. After recently investing $1.1 million (11 million DH (Moroccan Dirhams) in PrestaFreedom, a home services platform focused on subscription-based cleaning and other services for individuals, the fund is now participating in the funding round of another promising startup called “DataPathology.” This demonstrates the fund’s ongoing interest in emerging enterprises with high-growth potential.

DataPathology, founded in 2020 by Mohammed El Khannoussi and Hicham El Attar, is a Moroccan MedTech startup specialized in pathology. The company has reached a significant milestone, successfully raising 2 million DH from the Witamax fund managed by Soax Partners a year and a half ago. Now, they have accomplished a similar feat by concluding a fundraising round of $1 million (10 million DH). This achievement was made possible through a partnership with Azur Innovation Fund, a private-public seed fund supported by Tamwilcom (formerly Caisse Centrale de Garantie) and managed by Azur Partners, led by Tarik Haddi, a specialist in fund management and investment advisory. This accomplishment aligns with the Innov Invest program.

Azur Innovation Fund DataPathology — *Image: DataPathology*

DataPathology’s mission is to address the lack of and delays in cancer diagnosis, particularly in medically underserved countries like those in Africa. The startup, co-founded by Hicham El Attar, a pathologist, and Mohammed El Khannoussi, an SI & Data consultant, aims to provide quick and secure pathological diagnosis to patients. Their innovative process involves conducting a biopsy and preparing a tissue sample at the patient’s examination site, digitizing it, and securely and anonymously transferring the digital file to the medical team for diagnosis through a web platform.

DataPathology has already established partnerships with international players in digital health and has set up the first digital pathological diagnosis center in Morocco. They have also initiated discussions with African countries that show high potential for improving cancer diagnosis. As part of their future plans, the startup aspires to expand their network of laboratories in Morocco and Africa while strengthening the necessary infrastructure and logistics to increase the volume of data integrated and processed within their platform.

Azur Innovation Fund DataPathology Azur Innovation Fund DataPathology

Morocco’s Lacaisse.ma Secures Funding To Scale Its Points Of Sale Solutions

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

Azur Partners Launches A $35m Innovation Fund To Invest In Morroccan Startups

May 8, 2020

Tarik Haddi, chairman of the board of Azur Innovation Fund

Good news for startups in the North African country of Morocco. Azur Innovation Management, a subsidiary of Azur Partners has launched a $35 million Innovation Fund to invest in Moroccan startups. The public-private fund targets Moroccan companies with less than 18 months of activity, “having a proven innovative product / service concept with successful marketing”.

“The Covid-19 crisis, far from slowing us down, will act as an accelerator,” says Tarik Haddi, chairman of the board of Azur Innovation Fund. “All stakeholders know that the economy will have to be revived on the basis of entrepreneurship and innovation. As soon as this first round is completed, we are already approached by other investors like the EIB and the South African Sango Capital, who want to be part of this dynamic. The African Development Bank is interested in also reinvesting. We feel investor solidarity. This could lead to a second closing, even if at this stage nothing is committed.”

Here Is What You Need To Know

The Azur Innovation Fund initially endowed with $20 million with contributions from Central Guarantee Fund (CCG), its first investor, AfDB, CIH Bank, Bank Of Africa and MASEN, was raised to $35 million as a result of the Development Fund of the Dutch Government (DFDG), the German development bank KFW and Saham Assurances joining during the first closing of the fund on March 11th, 2020.
With a lifespan of 10 years, and an investment period of 5 years (extendable by one year), the fund targets innovative Moroccan startups.
The Fund will focus on the renewable energy sectors, Morocco’s global businesses, service platforms and new technologies.
The average investment tickets will be around $500k (excluding follow-on).

Moroccan Startups Targeted By The Fund

The fund targets the following categories of startups according to their various stages of development:

Companies with less than 18 months of activity, having a proven innovative product / service concept with successful marketing (Seed Capital Component);
Companies with more than 18 months and less than 3 years of activity, having an innovative product / service in production and available on the market, with recurrent sales (Early Stage Capital Component);
Companies with more than 3 years and less than 5 years of activity, having an innovative product / service in strong growth with positive Ebitda, even if it still realizes losses (Venture Capital Component).

A Look At Azure Partners

Azur Partners is an independent Moroccan investment fund management company focused on venture capital. It structures and manages funds in agriculture, agrifood and innovation.

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.