The first close of Endure Capital’s new $50 million fund dedicated to investing in early-stage startups throughout Africa has been announced.

Endure 21 is the second early-stage venture capital fund from Endure Capital and will invest largely in impact-driven, early-stage African startups, with some capital being allocated to startups throughout the world that are in the growth stage.

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s Development Finance Institution and impact investor (previously known as CDC Group), The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), Egypt’s Social Fund for Development, and the founders of various leading startups in the region are among the limited partners who have invested in the fund.

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“Endure is committed to adding value to the region’s flourishing startup founders, and ecosystem, and we love to partner with founders that relentlessly pursue entrepreneurship as a means for value creation to society and who are building lasting businesses,” Endure Capital’s founder Tarek Fahim, said. 

Why LPs Invested In This Round

“BII is excited to be partnering with Endure Capital, a well-embedded leading local fund manager in Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I am delighted that our partnership on Endure21 will help support the next generation of visionary entrepreneurs in Egypt, providing them with the capital to build transformative businesses that are creating innovative solutions and accelerating productive, sustainable and inclusive growth across society.” commented Abhinav Sinha, Managing Director and Head of Technology and Telecoms, British International Investment.

“MSMEDA is proud to partner with Endure Capital to promote the Egyptian economy by supporting the entrepreneurial environment and enabling young innovators and entrepreneurs,” commented Hany Emad, Director and Head of the central sector for financing small projects at MSMEDA.

A Look At Endure Capital

Endure Capital, founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Tarek Fahim, has quickly become one of the top VC businesses in the region. Careem, which was bought by Uber for $3.1 billion in 2019, was one of the first institutional investments for the inaugural fund. The purchase is the largest technology departure in the Middle East to date. Both regional B2B e-commerce powerhouse MaxAB and Egypt’s first food delivery firm and pioneer of “dark shops,” Breadfast, are investments from Endure’s inaugural fund.

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Some of the most well-known firms in the world, such Boom Supersonic, Tribal Credit, and Aspect Biosystems, are included in Endure’s first portfolio. The first fund is in the top 25% of its vintage year’s performing funds, having returned 43% IRR and generated a 4.3x multiple on its investments.

How The New Fund Will Invest

• As part of its Endure 21 strategy, Endure Capital will make 24 investments across many industries. Half of the capital will be set aside for additional investments in Endure Capital’s best performing portfolio businesses.

• Mohamed Noweir, a new partner at Endure Capital, will oversee the firm’s second fund of investments. Noweir has been in the business world for more than 15 years, working for companies including IBM, McKinsey & Company, Careem, and Rocket Internet.

• Several startups have already received funding from the new fund, including Pylon, a smart infrastructure company offering subscription-based “Smart Metering as a Service” (SMaaS) for power and water providers in emerging areas, and Cassbana, a BNPL alternative lending solution for SMEs.

“There are a lot of exceptional founders in the region and we are super excited to partner with them early on in their entrepreneurial journey. And we are also thrilled to kickstart “Endure…Pay it Forward” initiative where we work with our portfolio founders to mentor aspiring founders and give back to our new budding startup environment,” Mohamed Noweir, said.

Meanwhile, Endure has established the Endure Opportunity Fund to reinvest in its most successful investments from the past.

“We are here to serve our founders in the long-term, and want to invest in their startups’ entire lifecycle — our strategy as a firm is to provide patient, long-term support to entrepreneurs,” Tarek Fahim said. 

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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://insightsbyexpert