Partech, the worldwide venture capital company with multiple funds, has achieved the initial closing of Partech Africa II with a total of €245 million (~$263 million), setting a new record as the largest-ever fund focused on Africa.
The company, specializing in supporting early to growth-stage startups throughout Africa, aimed to raise €230 million ($250 million) for its second African fund, with a target first close of €150 million.
However, due to strong interest from limited partners, Partech Africa II exceeded its original goal and reached the first close. The company will aim for a final finish of up to €280 million ($300 million), according to a statement from co-founder Tidjane Deme.
Partech Africa II is a follow-up to Partech Africa I, established in 2018 and raised $143 million. It is one of three funds launched by the global venture capital firm in the last two years, including a $750 million growth fund and a $100 million seed fund targeting diverse markets and industries worldwide.
Last year, we went out to raise fund two, and we did it in a very different market. Everything has changed; the deal flow in Africa, especially for Series A and B, has been multiplied by 14 over the last five years. The average Series A ticket sizes have grown from $4 million to almost $9 million, and Series B has gone from about $10 million to $25 million. So the market has changed, and we embarked on raising fund two; the strategy is to double down on what we did with fund one because the market has validated it.
co-founder – Tidjane Deme
Partech Africa’s first fund was invested in 17 startups operating across nine countries and 27 sectors, focusing on deep, fragmented, and informal economic sectors in Africa where technology platforms can bring efficiency and value. These startups, including TradeDepot, Wave, Yoco, Reliance, and Nomba, span across industries such as fintech, retail and FMCG, agency banking, and health tech, which drive much of Africa’s economic activity and employment. With Partech’s support, these startups have provided value to over a million merchants and 20 million end users across Africa, attracting over 10% of the investment into the continent from 2021 to 2022.
Prior to Partech’s involvement, these companies had already achieved product-market fit, and Partech helped fine-tune their business and operational models with funding and additional support. Partech had also established relationships with the founders long before the startups were ready for investment, enabling Partech to lead rounds with checks ranging from $1 million to $7 million.
The venture capital company plans to continue backing Series A and B startups in sectors such as fintech, health tech, logistics, mobility, and edtech while increasing its upper ticket size to $15 million with its second fund.
The fund’s limited partners come from diverse backgrounds, including DFIs, African funds of funds, family offices, and HNIs, with anchor investor KfW, the German Development Bank. Partech intends to deploy its capital in more than 20 startups from Fund II. It is expanding its team across offices in Dakar, Nairobi, and Dubai, with plans to expand into new locations like Lagos.
Partech’s global platform provides crucial support functions such as business development, portfolio support, ESG, finance, compliance, and legal.
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