In 2021, Andela and Flutterwave co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji founded the Future Africa fund, which invested $4.3 million in 43 startups, bringing its total assets under management (AUM) to $30 million.
The team’s first goal was to create an online community to promote debates about Africa’s future, but they quickly realised that more was required, and they began an evolution process. The Future Africa fund, which was opened to co-investors in April 2020, is a significant component of this.
The Future Africa Collective, a group of angel investors, has expanded to 257 members as of the end of 2021, with the fund investing US $4.3 million in 43 enterprises last year. They were involved in a wide range of businesses, from education to healthcare to media, with financial services accounting for more than half of their investments.
Stitch, Lami, mDaas Global, Payhippo, MarketForce, Edves, and Kwara are among the 75 companies in the fund’s portfolio for 2021. AUM increased to $30 million from $600,000 in 2017. In 2021, its portfolio firms raised about $290 million in additional capital.
“In furtherance of our pan-African drive, we expanded our geographical reach and made our investment debuts in Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia in 2021. Through these investments, Future Africa’s presence is now in six African countries, including Nigeria and Kenya,” Aboyeji said.
“At the start of 2021, we committed to ensuring that at least US $1 million of our capital would go to female innovators. We delivered on this, investing over US $2 million in companies with female founders. In total, we have 152 founders in our network, and one in three of our portfolio companies have a female co-founder, including Lami, Kwara, and Knabu, led by female CEOs.”
After a “transformative” 2021, he stated Future Africa was gearing up for an “even more amazing 2022.”
“By all indicators, 2022 is the year of scaling impact by continuing to identify, fund and support founders that are doing the hard things and providing solutions to Africa’s most difficult problems and, as a result, shaping the continent’s future,” said Aboyeji.
