Constant Ventures is offering up to $15m venture fund for West African startups

An African-led venture capital firm, Constant Ventures focused on catalysing growth in Africa’s largest economy, is launching a $100 million venture capital investment fund for digital firms with a focus on financial inclusion, education, and healthcare.

From assisting to establish firms in its venture studio to participating in pre-seed through Series A rounds, Capital Ventures has been an angel investor in African entrepreneurs and a supporter of the African technological ecosystem’s development.

So far, Capital Ventures has invested over US$3.2 million in nine Nigerian start-ups including Halo, Gokada, Appzone, Tingtel, Heala, Sabiroa, CreditClan, FIG. and Omnibiz yielding a 5.6x return and a 15x return following the next round of funding. 

Technology was always going to provide the answer to so many critical issues faced by millions of people across Africa today.  We are now on the cusp of a paradigm shift with recent advances across information technology presenting a unique investment window. We have looked at what has worked in other geographies. Now, refined and optimised for Africa, we have modelled a fund to invest in businesses that will both improve the lives of millions of people and deliver outstanding returns for investors.

Ike Echeruo, Chairman of the Constant Group and co-founder and Managing Partner of Constant Ventures

Read Also: VC firm, TLcom Capital, plans $150m fundraise to invest in early and late-stage African startups

How does Constant Ventures work?

The Constant Ventures funding has a very unique framework for determining who benefits from its investing strategy. The firm invest mainly in exceptional entrepreneurs and intriguing start-ups. It also invests through its own venture studio, which serves as a strong community force for entrepreneurs with unique ideas and capital to quickly establish firms.

This $100 million investment, however, is aimed specifically at fintech platforms and marketplace start-ups. These start-ups must also be active in goods, infrastructures, and services that provide underserved individuals with access to loans, savings, and investments, as well as platforms or markets for trading information, products, or services.

In addition, the funds available to each eligible start-up hover between $50,000 to $15 million, with each company receiving a maximum of 15% of the fund.

The Investee companies of this fundraising will be based in Nigeria and Ghana at first, as Constant Ventures aims to expand funding to the rest of West Africa later.

About Capital Ventures

Constant Ventures and Constant Capital are part of the Constant Group. The Constant Group was founded by Ike Echeruo and Chinedu Echeruo in 2006. Constant Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investing in tech-enabled firms in Africa’s banking, healthcare, and logistics sectors.

The purpose is to provide instruments for wealth generation and to build a financial educated area for businesses and entrepreneurs. It also aims to support African entrepreneurs and achieve gender parity in business funding.

Venture capital funding in West Africa

The success, expansion, and development of most African tech ecosystems and entrepreneurs in Africa have been aided by venture capital funding. This is mainly because the tech ecosystem is highly sought after and may offer tremendous success.

According to a survey by Magnitt, some West African countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya were able to raise over 90% of all VC funding in the region by 2021.

Angel investors and Venture Capital funding initiatives have provided substantial support and investment sponsorship to startups across West Africa over time. This has aided the entrepreneurial sector’s growth, since the tech start-up ecosystem in this part of Africa has rapidly expanded, transforming Africa into a future tech giant.

Interested start-ups and business entrepreneurs should contact [email protected] for more information about funds assessments.