AAIC Investment Pte. Ltd., a Japanese investment corporation based in Singapore, has announced the first closing of Africa Innovation & Healthcare Fund VCC –AHF2 in March 2022, its second fund focused on investing in African startups. AHF 2 will begin investing and will continue to take subscriptions until it reaches its aim of USD 150 million.

Asahi Intecc Co., Ltd, Eisai Inc., Ohara Pharmaceuticals (*), and other notable Japanese trading companies participated in the AHF2 at the First Closing.

Read also Hydrogen, the New Energy Rush for Africa

“I am excited and grateful for all the tremendous support from our stakeholders and pleased to announce the launch of our second fund. Since the founding of AAIC Holdings, considering the declining birth rate and ageing population in Japan, our hypothesis is that Japan’s future growth can only be achieved when Japanese firms would expand their business overseas, internationalise, and cooperate fully with the emerging markets. We believe that the launch of the new fund will further expedite the realisation of sustainable growth for both Japan and Africa,” said AAIC Holding’s Founder and CEO, Susumu Tsubaki.

Here Is What You Need To Know

• AAIC Investment launched its first Africa-focused fund, the Africa Healthcare Fund, in 2017 (AHF1). The fund has invested in and supported the growth of 30 start-ups to date, raising a total of USD 47 million. In 2021, Chipper Cash, a financial start-up in its portfolio, achieved a unicorn.

• In 2015, AHF1 was the first Japanese-affiliated venture capital firm to operate out of Kenya. In December 2020 and March 2022, the investment manager opened two new offices in Nigeria and South Africa, respectively. It is also in the process of establishing an office in Egypt. Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt were also discovered to account for roughly 74% of all African start-up investments in 2021. (Partech). With the introduction of AHF2, AAIC Investment aims to further expand its operational reach in order to cover the whole African continent.

• From its years of experience in Africa, AAIC Investment observed the limited role of Japan as compared to Europe, China, and India. AAIC Investment will strive not only to maximise returns for its investors through the activities of the funds but also to import the Japanese technologies and skillsets to Africa and develop sustainable growth for both parties. Moreover, it would give assist in growing the presence of Japanese companies and people actively involved in the continent.

“From 2015 to 2021, during the first few years of my assignment in Kenya, the volume of start-up funding in Africa grew by about 20-fold. I am looking forward to the next ten years of development, which is also the period of operation for our second fund. The fact that hospitals in Africa are still lacking in basic infrastructure highlights the greater importance of the role of technology in developing countries than in developed economies.” said Hiroki Ishida, AAIC Investment’s Principal and Representative of the Kenya office,

In addition, AAIC Investment’s Manager and Representative of the Nigeria office highlights, “The Pandemic has spurred the healthcare sector’s digitalisation to the real practice. AAIC Investment is looking forward to supporting this movement and bridging the African firms to the world. We are thrilled to create an innovative value in Africa’s Healthcare sector with the local startups, entrepreneurs, and leaders.”

• According to Partech study, African start-ups would raise a total of USD 5.24 billion in funding by 2021, quickly catching up with start-ups in Japan. AHF2 primarily invests in healthcare, a critical SDG Goal (SDG 3) and a sector that is undergoing rapid growth in the domains of telemedicine and Artificial Intelligence-led diagnosis as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Other sectors of investment include industries such as Fintech, whose products and services play a critical role in speeding the expansion of the Healthcare industry.

AAIC Investment African startups AAIC Investment African startups

Nigeria’s Norebase Raises $1M To Scale Across Africa

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