The largest gender-neutral technology fund in Africa, the Janngo Capital Startup Fund (JCSF), is the second investment vehicle of Janngo Capital Partners. The fund of funds “ANAVA” announced on Monday that it would invest €4 million in it.
Targeting early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups that help Africans improve their access to necessities like healthcare, education, or financial services, help African startups improve their access to markets and capital, or create sustainable jobs at scale, with a focus on women and youth, Smart Capital said in a press release published on Monday. The fund, which has a target size of €60 million, commits to investing in about 25 startups in francophone Africa, including Tunisia.
The Fund is supported by elite investors like the European Investment Bank (EIB), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), and Proparco, and it is financed by the World Bank, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), and the KFW. Additionally, a €10 million first loss mechanism is supplied by the European Commission via the Boost Africa initiative.
“This is ANAVA’s first investment in pan-African funds. It will help Tunisian startups to widen their market and their presence in growing Africa, and ANAVA will build connections with other global players on the continent,” said Alaya Bettaieb, Director General of Smart Capital.
According to Janngo Capital’s founder and executive chair, Fatoumata Bâ, additional funding of €4 million from Smart Capital will go toward supporting creative tech startups in Africa, specifically Francophone nations and women-founded businesses.
“This commitment directly contributes towards investing in leading early-stage start-ups to help unlock a massive growth and positive economic, social, and environmental impact in Tunisia and beyond.”
Tunisia’s first fund of funds denominated in euros is called ANAVA. One of the main tenets of the national initiative “Startup Tunisia” is its goal of establishing Tunisia as a center for innovation and startups in the Mediterranean, MENA, and African regions.
The fund of funds has an initial target size of €100 million, with an initial closing of €40 million contributed by the CDC through a World Bank loan and €20 million contributed by KFW. Its goal is to provide partnering funds with the ability to invest in Tunisian startups both domestically and internationally, enabling them to meet their needs for growth and internationalization.
The Financial Market Council (CMF)-approved firm Smart Capital is in charge of managing the fund. The government of Tunisia has given it authority to oversee the Startup Tunisia initiative.
