Enza Capital, a pan-African venture capital firm, has announced the closing of its US $58 million Fund II and the beginning of its Founder Partner program, which will allow portfolio company leadership teams to become co-owners and share in the overall success of the company and other investors.
Having started in 2019, Enza Capital, a 2019 startup based in Kenya, describes itself as a multi-stage venture capital firm that supports founders and teams using technology to address significant issues across Africa. It has so far made 48 investments, ranging from the first check at the pre-seed level to Series B, into fast-growing African technology companies.
“This new vehicle will enable Enza Capital to further build on the strong foundations established by visionary founders, like-minded funds, and values-aligned stakeholders across Africa. It reaffirms our dedication to becoming a steadfast, long-term partner in one of the most dynamic, high-growth, and consequential tech ecosystems of our era,” said Enza Capital coFounder and Managing Partner Mike Mompi.
“Our existing portfolio companies and future long-term partners are technology-driven enterprises leading the transition from offline to online, digitizing pivotal sectors, and building the rails that will help empower Africans and transform the continent. These companies are reshaping the very fabric of how Africans live, earn, work, do business, and thrive.”
In Africa, Enza Capital is setting the standard for a novel shared ownership model in which the founders and executive teams of the portfolio companies become co-owners of Enza Capital and participate in the company’s success.
“The Founder Partner programme fosters alignment and collaboration, and it increases the likelihood of success across all stakeholders in the Venture Capital structure, ranging from LPs and investors to management teams, and extending to the ultimate beneficiaries of the products or services developed by these enterprises. We truly believe in shared ownership, and we can empathize with leadership teams – these are some of the reasons why we launched the Founder Partner programme,” said John Lazar, co-founder and general partner of Enza Capital.
