Tofino Capital, a venture capital firm focused on financing emerging market startups, ahas nnounced the first closing of its investment fund with a target size of $10 million. The entity intends to invest between $50,000 and $500,000 in pre- and seed-stage businesses in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

“The Fund’s central thesis is to invest in enormous markets with hundreds of millions of individuals who lack access to risk finance. This excludes China, India, and Brazil […] Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Mexico are all mentioned,” co-founder of Tofino Capital Eliot Pence explained.

Since its inception in 2018, the company has invested in 11 businesses. In 2021, the concept of establishing a venture capital fund emerged and was realized a few months later.

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The vehicle will primarily target financial services and logistics companies. It intends to invest in between 30 and 40 firms and five late-stage companies. The fund’s final close is scheduled for the end of the year.

According to Pence, Africa’s next phase of growth will involve middle-market enterprises, not high-profile start-ups such as Flutterwave or Andela.

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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