Bruce Nsereko-Lule joins Seedstars as General Partner

Seedstars Africa Ventures, an early-stage fund for startups in the African region, has appointed Bruce Nsereko-Lule as a full-time General Partner based in Nairobi, Kenya. His onboarding is part of the fund’s strategy to ramp-up its Nairobi office and strengthen its fundraising and investment capabilities.

According to a statement shared with Technext on Tuesday, Bruce joins to support the fund’s strategy to provide stronger support to entrepreneurs in the region by leading pre-series A and series A rounds and providing follow-on capital to catalyse later-stage investments.

Seedstars new GP – Bruce Nsereko-Lule

Bruce boasts of over 11 years of experience in venture capital and investment banking across frontier and emerging markets, having led early-stage investments of several million dollars from African and international funds to more than 30 African startups, many of which have developed into industry leaders and subsequently raised close to $500 million. 

Before joining Seedstars Africa, Bruce was the founding Investment Principal at Chandaria Capital, where he established and led the operations of the renowned, sector-agnostic African venture capital fund.

Read also: A chat with Senator Ihenyen on how SiBAN is making Nigeria a safe blockchain space

At Chandaria Capital, he led early-stage investment and portfolio management of 38 companies operating mostly in Africa but also in South America and Asia. Under his leadership, Chandaria Capital won the East Africa Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (EAVCA) award for Small Cap Deal 2019 and Venture Capital Deal 2020/2021. 

Speaking about joining the team, Bruce said he looks forward to building a leading early to growth stage fund for African startups.

“As an African that has lived in Africa for nearly 25 years, I have witnessed the numerous difficulties individuals face to start up and grow a business. The continued growth of early-stage ventures in the continent has positively accelerated the development of the industry. Still, more needs to be done to ensure local entrepreneurs gain access not only to early-stage funding but also cornerstone investors that will support these businesses to scale and succeed through successive rounds of funding,” he said.

Seedstars Africa Ventures has already invested $5.3 million and recently participated in or led flagship transactions including early-stage investments in Beacon Power Series (Energy) and Bizao (Payments).

Bruce added, “Seedstars Africa Ventures works to solve these issues. With the support of world-class institutions, including LBO France and Seedstars, Seedstars Africa Ventures is a long-term investment partner that provides talent in the continent with strategic support, networks, and continual funding to create pioneering companies that improve the incomes, health, and lifestyles of Africans.”

“We are thrilled to have Bruce officially joining us. Very few investment professionals in the region have the breadth of experience and track record that Bruce has of successfully investing in and supporting startups. Adding his complementary skillset to the team will benefit not only the fund but also importantly the value we deliver to our portfolio companies,” said Tamim El Zein, General Partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures.