Africa focused Venture Capital firm TLcom has announced the first close at $70 million for its new $150 million Africa-focused tech fund.
Participants in the round include Allianz, the world’s largest insurance company through its joint venture with DEG Impact (German Investment Corporation), AfricaGrow, as well as a number of new and returning investors, including Bertelsmann, King Philanthropies, the TLcom team and FBNQuest from the private sector, and major DFis like British International Investment (CDC Group), IFC, Proparco and Swedfund.
TLcom said it will use the new fund to expand its existing focus on fast-growth, tech-enabled African startups to Egypt, as well as strengthen its long-standing presence across East and West Africa.
The firm will deploy ticket sizes ranging from $500,000 – $15mn, TLcom expects to add an additional 20 early-stage startups to its portfolio with an emphasis on Seed and Series A stages in sectors including fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education and ecommerce.
“As we partner with some of the world’s leading global investors for our new fund, this is not only an endorsement of the massive value generation upside on the continent, but also of our proven track record in identifying and supporting entrepreneurs successfully winning and redefining Africa’s key verticals. In order to contribute to unlocking the next phase of Africa’s huge economic upside, we’ll be mobilizing our new fund to strengthen our partnership with African founders, with a special emphasis on female entrepreneurs, as well as our role as the leading local partner of choice for global VCs increasingly looking at Africa.” Said Maurizio Caio, Nairobi-based Founder and Managing Partner at TLcom.
The firm says that its portfolio companies have raised more than half a billion dollars of capital to date with participation from leading global investors including Softbank, Owl Ventures and Index Ventures. In 2021, TLcom also announced the first unicorn in its portfolio following Andela’s $200mn Series E funding at a valuation of $1.5bn.
TLcom was launched in 1999 and now has in excess of $350mn worth of funds under management across primary and secondary funds and some of the leading portfolios in African tech include, Ajua, Autochek, Ilara Health, Kobo360, Okra, Pula, Seamless HR, Shara, Terragon Group, Twiga Foods and uLesson.
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