Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) has revealed the completion of a US $60 million final close for its pan-African venture fund. The fund makes investments in post-revenue, scalable, tech-enabled startups that tackle challenging issues on the continent.
VKAV was established in 2021 as a joint venture between African growth capital private equity firm Verod Holdings (Verod) and Japanese venture capital firm Kepple Africa Ventures (KAV). Partners Satoshi Shinada, Ryosuke Yamawaki, and Ory Okolloh lead VKAV.
The VKAV Fund is the company’s first investment vehicle. It will use the combined expertise of the two businesses to invest in early-stage African startups, with a particular focus on those addressing social issues.
Key institutional investors in the VKAV Fund include SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Japan International Corporation Agency, and Japan ICT Fund. The fund announced its first close of US $43 million in March 2023 and has since closed at US $60 million.
A few more institutional investors from Japan, including Taiyo Holdings and C2C Global Education Japan, as well as SCM Capital, formerly known as Sterling Capital Markets Limited, from Nigeria, are among the new investors joining the final close.
VKAV is addressing the growing shortage of funding, especially from local investors, for companies in Africa that are transitioning to Series A and B stages by concentrating on growth-stage companies. Based on the shifting dynamics of the African economy and demographics, the fund will concentrate on three main themes: companies developing digital infrastructure across various sectors; inefficiency solvers, primarily addressing friction between businesses and consumers; and market creators, generating opportunities for individuals to pursue economic growth.
Moove Africa, KOKO Networks, Ceviant, Chari, Shuttlers, Nawy, Julaya, NowPay, Chefaa, Cloudline, Zone, and mTek-Services are among the twelve businesses that the fund has supported thus far.
