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Flourish Ventures Secures $350 Million to Fuel Emerging Market Fintechs, Including Africa

October 26, 2023

African-tech-startup-funding-rises-51-to-195M-in-2017

San Francisco-based Flourish Ventures, an evergreen venture firm with a unique focus on fintech startups in the U.S. and emerging markets, has successfully raised $350 million in new funding, expanding its total assets under management to an impressive $850 million. This significant development comes as fintech investment is on the rise, particularly in emerging markets like Africa. Here’s what founders need to know about Flourish Ventures’ latest move and its strategic approach:

A Different Approach to Investment

Unlike traditional venture firms, Flourish operates as an evergreen firm, allowing it to maintain a flexible investment strategy without being bound by fixed timelines for deploying or exiting capital. This approach aligns with the vision of its sole LP, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, to drive systemic change and promote a fairer financial system. According to Tilman Ehrbeck, global managing partner and co-founder, this approach gives Flourish a comparative advantage.

A Fintech Venture Fund with Purpose

Flourish’s investment philosophy goes beyond financial returns. It seeks to support companies that demonstrate innovative and more equitable approaches to business. These innovative approaches are intended to influence and enhance the entire financial sector. Flourish’s primary focus is on fintech with a clear purpose.

Global Reach and Impact

Since its inception, Flourish has invested in 71 startups across five continents. While nearly half of its capital has been deployed in the U.S., it has made noteworthy investments worldwide, including digital bank Chime, Brazilian neobank Neon, embedded finance startup Unit, and African payments infrastructure company Flutterwave. These investments are a testament to Flourish’s ability to identify and nurture promising companies at their seed or Series A stages.

A Diverse and Inclusive Team

Flourish prides itself on maintaining a diverse team, with a majority of its members being female and non-white. This diversity extends to the investments it makes, striving to support companies with co-founders from various backgrounds and regions.

Strategic Focus

Flourish Ventures collaborates with policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and ecosystem players to drive its mission of creating systemic change. The firm’s managing partners and founders each have their respective regions of focus, ensuring a broad and targeted approach to investment.

Investing in the Future

A portion of Flourish’s new capital will be reserved for follow-on investments. The firm’s typical initial investments range from $2 million to $7 million, and it targets six to ten new investments annually. This flexibility allows Flourish to lead or co-lead investments and actively engage in board roles when appropriate.

What’s Next?

Looking ahead, Flourish continues to lead the charge in infrastructure investments. It is actively seeking “next-gen” companies in the B2B payments and vertical SaaS sectors that integrate finance more deeply into their offerings. The firm also maintains a keen interest in transforming outdated legacy infrastructure, particularly in the banking, insurance, payments, lending, and identity sectors.

In a landscape where fintech investment is evolving, Flourish Ventures’ substantial funding round offers a beacon of hope for fintech startups, particularly those operating in emerging markets. As the firm expands its reach and impact, it remains a prominent player in fostering innovation, equity, and lasting change within the financial sector.

This latest investment from Flourish Ventures underscores the continued growth and importance of fintech companies, especially in emerging markets, making it a valuable development for founders seeking to make a difference in the financial technology sector.

Flourish Ventures Africa Flourish Ventures Africa

South Africa’s Munch Software Lands Famous Brands’ Investment

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

How Flourish Ventures’ Madica Will Invest Its New $6M In Pre-seed Startups

October 25, 2022

Flourish Ventures, a venture capital firm located in the United States, has created Madica, a pan-African investment initiative that intends to provide cash, technological assistance, and coaching to underrepresented entrepreneurs throughout the continent. The sector-agnostic initiative focuses on pre-seed stage technology firms, which is where most ideas fail.

The initiative has set aside $6 million for investment in up to 30 African entrepreneurs, with each receiving up to $200,000 in exchange for ownership. The initial investment period will last three years.

Ameya Upadhyay, the venture partner at Flourish Ventures — Ameya Upadhyay, venture partner at Flourish Ventures

“Although investment is booming on the continent, funds are often disproportionately targeted at a few well-networked entrepreneurs and skewed towards the more prominent tech hubs… Madica is sector-agnostic and intends to double down on providing hands-on support, extensive resources, access to networks and more. This is why in addition to $6 million of investment capital, we have reserved an equal amount for programmatic support,” said Madica’s head, Emmanuel Adegboye.

“We encourage founders across the continent to apply for our program. We believe Africans have an unmatched entrepreneurial spirit, and one of Madica’s core goals is to ensure a level playing field for every African founder,” he said.

Madica also stated that it is interested in expanding into underserved areas on the continent, outside of the well-established hubs of Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. This is part of its effort to achieve pan-African reach by assisting local and female innovators.

Here Is What You Need To Know

To be eligible for the programme, founders must be working full-time on their concept, have a minimal viable product, and have received little or no institutional investment. The programme will accept applications and admit candidates on a rolling basis.

Madica also collaborates with AfriLabs, Pariti, the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit, the CELO Foundation, and Rising Tide to select businesses to help.

Participants will be paired with mentors.

“Madica is an investment in the African venture ecosystem, with the audacious goal of creating a broader systemic shift. Through Madica, we intend to develop a cadre of mentors, create world-class programming, crowd-in follow-on capital and leverage Flourish’s global presence to extend the reach of local networks. These will eventually benefit other participants in the ecosystem — startups, investors, and policymakers,” said Ameya Upadhyay, the venture partner at Flourish Ventures, an early-stage fintech VC whose portfolio includes Nigeria’s Flutterwave and Paga.

“We hope that Madica can help change the narrative around African startups — lower the perception of risk, attract more capital, inspire more founders and garner more media attention,” said Upadhyay.

Flourish Ventures Madica Flourish Ventures Madica

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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://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

London-based Ventures Capital Firm Flourish Ventures Is Now Present In Kenya

March 17, 2021

Flourish Ventures, a London-based venture capital company, has confirmed its entry into the Kenyan venture capital space in order to invest in Kenya’s increasing demand for fintech innovations. Kenya is the first country in East Africa where the company, which invests in entrepreneurs whose inventions help people achieve financial health and prosperity, has developed a presence. Apollo Agriculture, Fair Money, Financial Services Innovators (FSI), Flutterwave, Lendable, Pula, and Paga are among the dozen startups in the firm’s portfolio, which are based in Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Kenya.

*Arjuna Costa, the Managing Partner at Flourish Ventures*

“We believe that Africa is on the cutting edge in the development of innovative and groundbreaking fintech solutions globally, and we are delighted that our Nairobi office will give us greater access across the continent,” said Arjuna Costa, the Managing Partner at Flourish Ventures.

Here Is What You Need To Know

According to Costa, establishing the fund’s presence in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital is due to the strength of Kenya’s fintech industry off the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This news was also accompanied by the appointment of Efayomi Carr as Principal, who will oversee the company’s Nairobi operations.

“Efayomi has a strong network in Africa and will work closely with Kenyan entrepreneurs building tools and services for fintech — with a special emphasis on embedded finance and insurtech,” said Mr. Costa on Carr’s appointment.

“Flourish Ventures is a deliberative and thesis-driven investor that wants to achieve real and broad impact across all of our investments in Africa. I am excited to be taking part in the growth of African fintech and innovation and I am optimistic that the continent will continue to give is pleasant surprises,” said Carr.

Carr also expressed hope about opening an office in Africa, citing the continent’s fintech industry’s strength in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I am excited to take part in the growth of our firm’s African presence and am optimistic that African fintech entrepreneurs will continue to deliver real results and make a positive financial impact for consumers and small businesses,” he added.

Flourish Ventures provides its entrepreneurs with experts in Data Science, Fraud & Risk, Finance & Operations, Human Capital, Legal, Marketing & PR, Product Management, and Strategy in addition to financial support. Overall, venture capital aims to be a leader in the development of a financial system that empowers people and favours business models that benefit them over those that exploit them.

Flourish published the South African version of its global research survey — The Modern Hustle: Gig Worker Financial Lives Under Pressure — in 2020, which followed the experiences of gig workers who use digital platforms like e-hailing or delivery apps to learn more about how they fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the study, 76 percent of the 600 surveyed gig staff have seen a substantial drop in income since March 2020.

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

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