VC firms, angels, accelerators, DFIs, and corporate venture arms backing African founders.
Voltron Capital
Venture Capital
Voltron Capital is an Africa-focused venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups. They have participated in seed rounds for companies in various sectors, including fintech, e-commerce, and SaaS, across multiple African countries. They look for innovative solutions addressing key challenges in the African market.
Volve Capital
Review pending
Vumela Enterprise Development Fund
Vumela Enterprise Development Fund provides growth capital to SMEs in South Africa. They focus on businesses with the potential for significant job creation and broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE). The fund aims to support businesses that can scale and contribute to inclusive economic growth.
Vunani Fintech Fund
Vunani Fintech Fund invests in early-stage fintech companies, as demonstrated by their participation in Flow's pre-Series A round. The fund focuses on South African startups, providing capital to fuel their growth and expansion.
W Fund
W Fund invests in early-stage African tech startups. They participated in Jetstream Africa's $13 million pre-Series A round, which will enable the company to broaden its reach and improve its service offerings in logistics and financing.
W3i
W3i invests in early-stage startups, as demonstrated by their participation in Amini's $2 million pre-seed round. Amini, a Kenyan climatetech startup, is developing a data aggregation platform to provide climate and environmental analysis to local and international companies. W3i's investment focus includes innovative solutions in emerging markets.
WEAV Capital
WEAV Capital invests in African tech startups. They focus on companies that are building digital ecosystems that celebrate Africa’s rich linguistic heritage while making these languages accessible to both native speakers and the global community. They support startups digitising oral histories, creating multilingual AI systems, and building platforms where African narratives can be shared authentically by African communities themselves.
WFP Innovation Accelerator
The WFP Innovation Accelerator supports startups through programs like the WomHub Africa Innovation Fellowship, which focuses on women-owned STEM businesses, and the World Summit Award for young digital entrepreneurs addressing UN SDGs. They offer mentorship, networking, and access to funding opportunities, but do not provide direct investment.
WIC Capital
WIC Capital invests in early-stage companies, with a focus on women-led businesses in West Africa. They target sectors such as agribusiness, education, health, and financial services, providing capital and support to help these businesses scale and create impact within their communities.
WILCO
WILCO invests in African tech startups. They participated in the Series A funding round of Vendease, a Nigerian food procurement startup. The investment supports Vendease's expansion and product development to improve efficiency in the food supply chain across Africa.
WISE Edtech Accelerator
WISE Edtech Accelerator supports innovation and builds an edtech community focused on revolutionizing teaching and learning. They look for startups with existing users, a product beyond MVP stage, existing revenue, and a dedicated team. Benefits include coaching, mentorship, access to a network of investors and education specialists, and international visibility.
WTI
WTI invests in healthtech companies in Africa. They participated in Helium Health's $30 million Series B round, which will be used to grow the company's software tools and financing solutions, with a specific emphasis on HeliumCredit, the fintech offering of the startup.
WZ Capital
WZ Capital invests in early-stage startups in South Africa. They participated in the pre-seed funding round of Contro, a telehealth startup providing services in sexual health and confidence building. The funding will be used to develop the platform, expand services, and grow the team to facilitate growth across South Africa.
Waarde Capital
Waarde Capital invests in logistics and supply chain technology companies. They focus on platforms connecting merchants with delivery and fulfillment solutions, providing data-driven insights to optimize operations. They also invest in embedded finance solutions, such as fuel cards and asset financing for vehicles.
Wangara Green Ventures
Wangara Green Ventures invests in early-stage companies focused on sustainable energy and resource efficiency in Africa. They target businesses that address climate change and promote environmental sustainability through innovative technologies and business models. They support ventures that have the potential for significant environmental and social impact alongside financial returns.
Warioba Ventures
Warioba Ventures invests in early-stage African tech startups. They focus on companies fostering a saving culture and providing solutions for medical shops to purchase medicine and medical equipment. They invest in companies based in Tanzania and other African countries.
Waseel
Wa’ed Ventures
Wa'ed Ventures invests in deep tech solutions. They participated in Intella's $3.4 million Pre-Series A round to support its expansion into the Saudi market and the development of AI models for the MENA region.
We-Fi
We-Fi is not mentioned in the provided articles. The articles discuss investments in Anda (mobility), Sawa Energy (clean energy), and nextProtein (insect-based animal feed). Investors include Breega, Speedinvest, ElectriFI, Swen Capital Blue Ocean Fund, British International Investment (BII), Société Générale, CIC Paris Innovation, and La Banque des Start-ups (LCL).
WeLoveBuzz
WeLoveBuzz invests in early-stage startups, as evidenced by their participation in the $455,000 investment in WafR, a Moroccan fintech and rewards startup. The firm appears to focus on the African continent, with a specific interest in startups based in Morocco.
Webit Investment Network
Webit Investment Network invests in tech companies, as shown by their investment in iSchool, an Edtech company based in Egypt. iSchool offers interactive, gamified learning modules for students seeking coding and programming skills, covering AI, VR, App Dev, game dev, and web development. The investment aims to expand iSchool's operations into six additional countries in the MENA region and scale its learning platform throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
Wema Bank
Wema Bank, through initiatives like BRAVE Women Nigeria, provides grants to female entrepreneurs, lead firms, and business associations. Individual entrepreneurs can receive grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, while women associations can receive up to $50,000 as a matching grant to finance asset acquisition (for businesses in Lagos and Abuja only).
Wemade
Wemade invests in blockchain gaming platforms and web3 gaming. They focus on supporting game developers in emerging markets by providing tools to leverage new business models. Their investment in Metaverse Magna indicates a focus on early-stage companies in the web3 gaming space.
Westcove Partners
Western Technology Investment (WTI)
White Field Ventures
White Field Ventures invests in early-stage startups, as demonstrated by their participation in Qardy's pre-seed funding round. Qardy is an Egyptian online lending marketplace connecting businesses to working capital, loans, and leases, indicating a focus on fintech and supporting MSMEs in the MENA region, with plans for expansion in KSA.
Whole Planet Foundation
Whole Planet Foundation provides microfinance to entrepreneurs in developing countries, including those in Africa. They focus on alleviating poverty by supporting small businesses and self-employment opportunities through microloans. They partner with microfinance institutions to disburse capital.
Witamax
Witamax is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in Moroccan startups. They focus on sectors such as cleantech, fintech, and mobility. The firm supports companies with seed and pre-seed funding to help them scale their operations and expand their market presence within Morocco and beyond.
Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society
The Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society, in partnership with HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, runs the WomenEntrepreneurs4Good accelerator program. This 7-month online program supports green entrepreneurs at the early stages, providing coaching, visibility, technical support, and access to an ecosystem of stakeholders and global partners. The program aims to equip women entrepreneurs with resources and capabilities to innovate and grow their businesses.
Women’s World Banking
Women's World Banking Capital Partners II led Pezesha's $11 million pre-Series A equity-debt round. Pezesha is a Kenyan embedded finance fintech that has built a digital lending infrastructure for traditional and non-traditional finance institutions to offer working capital (loans) to MSMEs. The investment will be used to expand into Nigeria, Rwanda, and Francophone Africa to bridge the financing deficit for small enterprises.
Women’s World Banking Asset Management
Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II
Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II invests in companies that empower low-income women. They focus on investments that provide women with access to financial services, markets, skills training, and technology. They led Pezesha's $11 million pre-Series A equity-debt round to expand into Nigeria, Rwanda and Francophone Africa to bridge the $330 billion financing deficit for small enterprises.
World Bank
The World Bank, through initiatives like the Climate Investment Funds Youth Fellowship, supports projects related to nature-based solutions, clean energy, adaptation and climate resilience, energy access, and gender and social inclusion. They provide specialized training, professional development, mentorship, and stipends to young leaders in global climate action, partnering with multilateral development banks to implement these initiatives.
Wrightwood Investments
Wrightwood Investments invests in African tech startups. They participated in a Seed funding round for Almouneer, an Egyptian startup operating a digital transformation platform for patients with chronic diseases. The platform provides digitally-enabled lifestyle and disease management solutions.
Wuri Ventures
Wuri Ventures invests in African startups. They participated in pre-seed and pre-Series A rounds for companies in sectors like logistics and trade tech. They co-led a $1 million pre-seed round for a trade tech startup and invested in a $13 million pre-Series A round for a logistics platform.
XSML Capital
XSML Capital invests in growth capital, operational expansion, and strategic acquisitions. They show confidence in platforms built for local scale and appetite for infrastructure and regional consolidation. They target urban commuters, corporate partners, and public authorities, addressing congestion and transport inefficiencies.
Xelerate
Xero
Xero is not explicitly mentioned in the provided text. Therefore, it's impossible to determine its investment focus, stage, geography, or typical check size based on the given information. The text only lists investors involved in specific funding rounds for various African startups.
Y Combinator
Y Combinator invests in early-stage startups across various sectors, including those in African tech. They provide seed funding, mentorship, and access to a network of investors and alumni. Their investments often support companies in their initial growth phases, helping them scale and attract further funding.
YY Ventures
YY Ventures focuses on increasing the capacity of existing ecosystem builders in East Africa. They provide access to knowledge, technical skills, and networks. They support social business support organizations by enrolling them in a learning journey. Selected organizations can apply for matching funds to implement their program activities.
Yango Ventures
Yango Ventures invests in companies digitizing the African transport market. They participated in a round for BuuPass, a company that operates a bus management system connecting operators to a marketplace where passengers can book tickets.
Yard Ventures
Yard Ventures participated in the $30 million Series A funding round of Fido, a Ghana-based fintech building a neobank to deliver credit and other financial services for the unbanked in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ycombinator
Y Combinator is an accelerator that invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups. It holds programs to help founders refine their pitch to investors. It invests in a wide range of sectors and stages, with a focus on early-stage companies.
Yellowwoods
Yellowwoods is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies, particularly in the technology sector. They focus on businesses with innovative solutions and high growth potential, often providing both capital and strategic support to help them scale. While specific details on their geographic focus and typical check size are not provided in the given articles, their investments span across various sectors within the African tech ecosystem.
Yolo Investments
Yolo Investments invests in early-stage African tech startups. They participated in a $500,000 pre-seed funding round for Syarpa, a Nigerian fintech company offering services such as money transfers, bill payments, and cryptocurrency transactions.
Yunus Centre
Yunus Centre focuses on increasing the capacity of existing ecosystem builders in East Africa by providing access to knowledge, technical skills, and networks. They support social business support organizations through workshops and coaching, offering matching funds to implement program activities. The program aims to support young professionals in designing and implementing social business support programs.
Yunus Social Business
Yunus Social Business partners with corporations to support social enterprises, particularly those focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). They provide training, mentorship, and funding to scale innovative, locally designed approaches that enable access to health and hygiene, create jobs, and drive positive health outcomes. They invest in early-stage companies.
Zambia Business Angel Network
Zambia Business Angel Network invests in early-stage Zambian startups. They provide funding, mentorship, and access to networks to help startups grow and scale. The network focuses on various sectors, including technology, agriculture, and renewable energy.
