$43 M secured by Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures for pan-African venture fund

For its pan-African venture fund, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) has collected US $43 million. VKAV invests in scalable, tech-enabled, post-revenue firms tackling challenging issues on the continent.

VKAV, a joint venture between the African growth capital private equity firm Verod Holdings (Verod) and the Japanese venture capital firm Kepple Africa Ventures (KAV), was established in 2021. Its partners are Satoshi Shinada, Ryosuke Yamawaki, and Ory Okolloh.

Its first investment vehicle, the VKAV Fund, will use the combined expertise of the two businesses to invest in startups across Africa with a particular focus on early-stage businesses that are attempting to address social problems in the continent.

Supporters such as SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), and private investors like Osamu Kaneda contributed to the initial closure of US $43 million. The companies like Moove Africa, Koko Networks, Ceviant, Chari, Shuttlers, and Julaya that VKAV is currently investing in include these.

“JICA has been supporting seed-stage start-ups in Africa through Project NINJA and Home-Grown Solutions (HGS) via the African Union Development Agency. This investment, however, will expand JICA’s support to include financial assistance for early-stage startups and is expected to enhance the collaboration between Japanese companies and startups in Africa. JICA will continue to support startup companies and funds that are working to solve social challenges in developing regions, not just in Africa, but throughout the entire world,” JICA said.