Angel Investors are a group of individuals or companies that have pulled their resources with the purpose of investing in startup businesses in exchange for a convertible debt or an equity in the new business. Africa is fast becoming the next land of opportunities and we have seen a lot more startups being formed in the recent 5 years compared to the corresponding earlier 5-year term. The challenge faced by most business startups in Africa is funding and this is where Angel Investors in Africa come in. African Angel Investors spend their resources and take the necessary risk investing in a new business that has not been tried and proven based on their own decisions and convictions. Answers Africa brings you 10 of the Angel Investors in Africa operating within the African market.
10. TBL Mirror Fund
The TBL Mirror Fund provides Venture Capital for East African Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. The fund provides equity, hands-on entrepreneurial involvement and exposure to an international investor network. The TBL Mirror Fund focuses on Small and Medium Enterprises in various sectors operating in growth markets where value can be added through the know-how and involvement of the investors of the Fund. The TBL Mirror Fund facilitates and manages the combined investment of capital and know-how in promising companies. Investors of the TBL Mirror Fund are successful private individuals with a wide variety of industry backgrounds, from CEOs of large multinationals to seasoned entrepreneurs and experienced venture capitalists.
9. eVA Fund
eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund) is the first venture capital firm investing in African SME’s active in digital media. Broadband and Mobile Internet Access in Africa is showing tremendous growth, enabling Africans to get connected to the world. African SME’s are rapidly developing localized applications, content, platforms, and solutions enabling over a billion Africans to use the web for communication, business, e-learning, news, transactions. Majority of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Africa are developing customized platforms and applications that will introduce most of the African populace to the web not only for communications and news gathering but also in business, e-learning, and transactions.
8. West African Synergies
West African Synergies is an investment holding established in 2010, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands with regional headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia.
WAS specializes in finding and developing business opportunities that arise out of the tremendous potential of West Africa. The company started its operations with projects in Liberia – one of the fastest growing economies in West Africa.
7. Africa Media Ventures Fund
Africa Media Ventures Fund mobilizes capital and experience in the Netherlands to invest in entrepreneurs in the media sector and small and medium-sized African media companies.
AMVF offers a combination of venture capital and business development support, involving knowledge, experience, access to proven business concepts and network. The normal capital investment made by the Africa Media Ventures Fund ranges from $20,000 to $200,000. The investors are experienced media entrepreneurs with a passion for Africa who is involved in the management of the portfolio companies through visits and board members and their focus is on sub-Saharan Africa (with the exception of South Africa) and are currently most active in Kenya and Ghana.
6. Jacana Partners
Jacana Partners is a pan-African private equity company that invests in entrepreneurs, builds successful small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and delivers sustainable financial and social returns. Jacana Partners believe that entrepreneurs as the key drivers of job creation and long-term economic development in Africa. Jacana Partners was founded in 2008 by a group of UK entrepreneurs and philanthropists who, having achieved success in business, wanted to harness their skills and experience to support economic growth in Africa.
5. Angel Investment Network
Angel Investment Network is a South African investment club With over 29,000 investors and total investment capital of more than eight trillion Rand, Angel Investment Network is one of the largest and with the most comprehensive list of business angels and investors in Africa but with special focus in South Africa. Investors come from different regions including out of Africa and are looking for scalable business in Africa to invest in. The Angel Investment Network platform facilitates entrepreneurs to find local and global investors for their projects.
4. Fanisi Capital
Fanisi Venture Capital Fund S.C.A., SICAV-SIF, is a US$50M fund which makes direct investments in businesses with potential for substantial growth. The Fund focuses on a segment of the market that has to date been outside the ambit of most venture capital funds in the East African market (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda). Fanisi Capital was founded in 2009 by the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) and Amani Capital Limited.
3. Adlevo Capital
Adlevo Capital is a Mauritius-domiciled private equity fund manager founded on the conviction that meaningful development in sub-Saharan Africa will be driven by the increasing application of technology to business processes across all sectors. In line with its strategy of closely working with portfolio companies, Adlevo Capital maintains an active local presence through its base in Lagos.
2. Invenfin Venture Capital
Founded in 2008, Invenfin Venture Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Remgro (Pty) Ltd. Invenfin specializes in early-stage venture capital (VC) funding, providing start-up capital to entrepreneurs to fund the commercialization of their intellectual property internationally.
Offering more than just access to capital, Invenfin also possesses extensive experience in the commercialisation of new ventures and products (including branding, product development, marketing, legal protection and global distribution). In addition, it draws on the international business networks of Remgro and the enlarged group. The company extends funding for a period typically extending one to three years, ordinarily in exchange for a significant minority stake in the business (normally in the range of 30%-49%).
1. East Africa Capital Fund
East Africa Capital Fund Partners (EACP) is a technology, media and telecommunications sector focused Venture Capital Fund Manager investing in the greater Eastern Africa region.The EACP raised the ATMT Fund 1 LLC which is basically a fund worth US$ 100 million that target investments focused on servicing infrastructure blockages in the ICT sector of Eastern Africa. The central hypothesis is that Eastern Africa’s ICT Sector is set to undergo a period of sustained growth that will provide above-average returns on carefully selected investments in technology, media & telecoms growth equities. This strategy is based on a number of key underlying drivers.
