African enterprise capital agency Janngo Capital has closed its second fund at €73 million (about $78 million), 20% greater than its preliminary goal of €60 million (about $63 million).
The agency marked the primary shut of the fund at €26 million in 2022, roping in restricted companions such because the African Growth Financial institution Group (AfDB) and European Funding Financial institution (EIB).
Each anchor traders additionally participated within the fund’s second shut, Janngo Capital’s founder Fatoumata Bâ advised TechCrunch. They had been joined by different institutional traders, three of which have an African mandate: the Mastercard Basis Africa Progress Fund, Tunisian fund of funds ANAVA, and the endowment fund of Ghana-based college Ashesi College. The U.S Worldwide Growth Finance Company (DFC) and the World Financial institution’s Worldwide Finance Company (IFC) additionally invested.
Growth finance establishments just like the DFC and IFC have been instrumental in bolstering Africa’s startup ecosystem by investing in native funds that in flip assist early and growth-stage startups. But, native institutional traders stay reticent, so efforts by companies like Janngo to usher in native capital helps sign confidence to overseas traders.
“Africa represents 17% of the worldwide inhabitants, but attracts just one%-2% of worldwide VC funding, a share that has remained stagnant regardless of progress from $150 million raised a decade in the past to round $4 billion-$5 billion right this moment,” Bâ stated. “If we imagine tech is essential to financial improvement in Africa, we must always have proportional entry to VC. That’s why our purpose wasn’t nearly hitting the goal or reaching oversubscription — I needed to draw personal LPs, particularly African LPs.”
The agency stylizes itself as a “gender equal” investor, and has up to now lived as much as its identify. Startups based or led by girls — like Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform Sabi, which has a feminine CEO — make up 56% of Janngo Capital’s portfolio throughout each funds.
“Our thesis hasn’t modified. We’ve confirmed it with exits like Expensya, the place we had been the primary VC on their cap desk. Additionally, as a female-founded, female-led, and predominantly female-owned fund, we place excessive significance on investing in feminine entrepreneurs,” stated Bâ.
“This focus is vital as a result of, whereas Africa has the world’s highest fee of feminine entrepreneurship, solely a tiny share of worldwide VC funding flows to feminine founders. So, exhibiting {that a} high-impact thesis—directing capital to various founders, early-stage VC, and sectors past fintech—can ship was important for us.”
When it marked this fund’s first shut two years in the past, Janngo Capital initially deliberate to again 25 firms. However now that the extra funds are in, the agency will spend money on one other 10 to fifteen firms over the following 5 years, Bâ stated. The agency expects its portfolio to have between 25 and 40 firms, and the second fund won’t depart from the agency’s seed to Sequence B focus. The VC takes 15% to 30% possession in startups.
Since launching its first fund in 2018, Janngo has made greater than 30 investments in 21 startups, typically investing in follow-on Sequence B rounds. Its first fund had about $10 million, and it seeded 11 firms, together with Expensya and Sabi. The agency doubled down in each startups’ Sequence B rounds with its second fund.
Janngo invests €150,000 to €5 million in startups working within the healthcare, logistics, monetary providers, retail, agritech, mobility, and the creator economic system sectors. The agency additionally has workplaces in Abidjan, Mauritius, Tunis and Paris.
