One of the most active early-stage venture capital firms on the continent, Launch Africa Ventures (LA), closed 15 new investments in 2026. Putting money into
With more than 180 portfolio businesses spread across 25 countries across its two funds, Launch Africa Ventures is a prominent pan-African venture capital fund and one of the most active early-stage investors on the continent. It was founded in 2020.
From pre-seed to seed to pre-Series, the company makes investments. A tech company that supports its portfolio with follow-on funding, worldwide distribution relationships, and access to a network of more than 400 LPs across 45 countries while addressing major challenges in finance, health-tech, agri-tech, logistics, ed-tech, and enterprise software.
In addition to announcing that it has closed 15 investments in the last six months, the company issued its first cash payment to its limited partners (LPs) from its Launch Africa Seed Fund I last month, returning about US$2.5 million.
Its 2026 cohort covers supply chain, embedded finance, AI, B2B commerce, the future of employment, and other infrastructure-driven industries in Francophone, Northern, Western, and Southern African regions.
Along with follow-on rounds into already-existing portfolio businesses, the new investments include Agridex, Udu Technologies, Fincart, Tayar, Khaime, Anavid, Mainstack, Growwr, Yamify, Legendary Foods, and Masunga, among others.
This pace is the result of a purposeful process. Every year, Launch Africa examines more than 1,200 firms, conducts one-on-one interviews with co-founders to gauge team chemistry, and compares each potential investment to the demands of its current portfolio, giving priority to enterprises that strengthen its network of more than 180 backed companies. Putting money into
Launch Africa keeps strengthening the bonds between creators, investors, and markets around the continent as its portfolio firms grow.
“The most important number in African tech this year isn’t the total raised, it’s how few first cheques are being written,” said Uwem Uwemakpan, head of investments at Launch Africa Ventures.
“When the market retreats from early-stage, the companies still being formed face less competition, raise at more rational prices, and are being built on infrastructure that simply didn’t exist in the last cycle. We invest where the rest of the market isn’t looking yet, not where it already is. If nobody underwrites company formation in 2026, there is no Series A class in 2029. We intend to back that pipeline.”
