Anglo-French VC firm Breega has launched a $75m (£59m) fund to invest in early-stage startups in Africa.
The London, Paris and Barcelona-based investment firm will open two new offices in Nigeria and Cape Town.
It is Breega’s first fund in Africa since it closed its first fund in 2015 and gives the VC a footprint in both Europe and Africa.
The “Breega Africa Seed I” will look to back early-stage startups based in Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new fund will be led by entrepreneur and angel investor Melvyn Lubega, who co-founded African digital education unicorn Go1, and Tosin Faniro-Dada, the former CEO of Endeavor in Nigeria and former founding executive of startup incubator Lagos Innovates.
“Startup ecosystems work like pyramids: they are only sustainable if the base, i.e. the early stage, is well financed,” said Ben Marrel, CEO and co-founder of Breega. “It is with this impact-driven mindset that Breega is positioning itself as the first investor to back and support entrepreneurs from idea to impact.”
The new fund has already made several investments, including in Numida, Socium, Klasha, Kwara, Coachbit and Sava. It plans to make investments ranging from $100,000 to $2m as the initial investor.
“Breega invested when we didn’t have a product yet, so their early trust was key,” said Kolawole Olajide, CEO & co-founder of Sava, based in South Africa.
“With the invaluable support of the scaling team, not only have we now reached the commercialisation phase, but we’ve also defined our internal culture and processes, and established our brand. We never thought we’d receive so much help and support from a venture capital fund.”
Last year Breega closed a €250m (£212m) investment fund for Series A and above rounds. It has since invested in London-based fintech Griffin.
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