British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, has announced its plan to invest $100 million in local startups over its current strategy period at a business reception launching its new name in Egypt, and highlighted its ‘Innovation for Impact’ Venture Capital (VC) summit. 

The DFI, formerly known as CDC Group, has reiterated its commitment to strengthening its cooperation with Egypt and increasing climate funding to help the country achieve green growth.

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“We have a new name for an established partner — British International Investment’s presence and impact in Egypt has never been more apparent. Egypt is one of BII’s priority markets, given the growth potential this country has to offer. BII’s investment deals, whether in financial services, health or clean energy, illustrate the strength of the UK-Egypt trade and green partnership. I wish the UK’s development finance institution every success, as it supports Egypt’s green transformation ahead of COP27 in November,” British Ambassador to Egypt, Gareth Bayley, said. 

Here’s What You Need To Know

• The DFI announced new commitments to Algebra Ventures and Endure Capital, two leading local VC firms that support and partner with the most promising early-stage businesses to build transformative companies across sectors such as fintech, agritech, edtech, logistics, and healthcare, as part of BII’s ambition to strengthen Egyptian VC. 

• Following the success of Fund I, which includes market-leading startups such as Khazna, Mozare3, and Shift EV, the funding will support Algebra Ventures’ second fund. Endure Capital’s most recent fund, Endure21, has also sponsored high-impact firms including Brimore, Pylon, and Cassbana.

• The DFI has also made an investment in MaxAB, a well-known B2B e-commerce platform in North Africa. The money will help MaxAB create 4,000 jobs and expand throughout Egypt and Morocco, allowing the firm to reach an additional 73,000 micro-retailers in the area. Furthermore, by adopting financial solutions that expand access to credit and streamline payments for small-scale and low-income shops, the investment will assist alleviate supply-chain inefficiencies.

• In addition, the BII will be hosting the “Innovation for Impact” summit in Cairo this week. This summit is the first major event that is specifically dedicated to venture capital in developing economies. The goal of the summit is to help foster new relationships and greater collaboration across markets; explore important themes such as climate tech and food security; facilitate knowledge sharing across BII’s portfolio; and share best practise on ESG and impact measurement. The summit will bring together local VC managers from across Africa and Asia.

Commenting on BII’s latest commitments in Egyptian startup ecosystem, Nick O’Donohoe said: 

“These investments form a critical part of BII’s new five-year strategy and reflect our local priorities to continuously explore opportunities to back local venture capital fund managers and direct our capital toward stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation among native businesses in impactful sectors. We believe local investors are ideal partners to identify the next generation of high-potential entrepreneurs whose unique solutions help solve development challenges, including climate solutions. I am particularly excited to welcome many of our VC partners at tomorrow’s Innovation for Impact summit. This is an event that further demonstrates BII’s commitment to help foster partnerships within the VC ecosystem and across markets, and help mobilise more capital to back market-shaping companies that are making societies more productive, sustainable and inclusive.”

British International Investment Egypt British International Investment Egypt

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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