VC firms, angels, accelerators, DFIs, and corporate venture arms backing African founders.
Darwazah Capital
Venture Capital
Darwazah Capital is an investor in early-stage startups in the MENA region. They focus on companies that are using technology to solve problems in a variety of sectors, including fintech, e-commerce, and healthcare. They participated in a $12.5 million seed round for Blnk, a digital lending platform in Egypt.
Day One Ventures
Day One Ventures invests in early-stage startups, including those in the African tech space. They participated in the seed round of MARA, a Pan-African crypto exchange platform. Their focus appears to be on innovative and disruptive companies, with a potential interest in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors.
DeSpread
DeSpread invests in blockchain and crypto startups, particularly those focused on promoting blockchain adoption in the MENA region. They participated in a pre-seed round for Hamilton, an Egyptian startup developing a protocol to tokenize real-world assets using the Bitcoin network.
Decentranet Intersect VC
Review pending
Decimal Point Ventures
Decimal Point Ventures participated in a pre-seed funding round for VENCO, a Nigerian proptech startup that automates the collection and reconciliation of community dues and payments. VENCO plans to use the funds to expand its credit delivery infrastructure and expand into other cities and countries across the continent, beginning with Nigeria and Kenya.
Delivery Hero Ventures
Delivery Hero Ventures invests in early-stage companies. While the provided articles do not explicitly detail Delivery Hero Ventures' investment thesis, their participation in funding rounds for African tech startups indicates an interest in the region. They focus on early stage investments.
Delphi Ventures
Delta Ventures
Delta40
Delta40 invests in early-stage African startups. They participated in the seed round of PowerUP, a Kenyan clean-tech company that manufactures and operates smart-metered PAYGO electric stoves tailored for diverse African markets, promoting cleaner, cheaper, and faster cooking mechanisms among women in Africa. The investment will fuel PowerUP's expansion across Africa.
Delta40 Venture Studio
The investor backs startups in the mobility, clean energy, and fintech sectors in Africa. They focus on scalable, climate-aligned, and digitally enabled startups, as demonstrated by investments in companies like Anda (mobility), Sawa Energy (clean energy), and nextProtein (insect-based animal feed).
Den VC
Den VC invests in African tech startups, as evidenced by their participation in funding rounds for Career 180 and WideBot, both Egyptian companies. They appear to be sector-agnostic, with investments in edtech and AI. Stage focus is not explicitly stated, but investments suggest an interest in pre-series A and undisclosed rounds.
Den Ventures
Den Ventures invests in deep tech companies. They participated in Nawah Scientific's Series A round, a cloud-based laboratory services platform that enables researchers, startups, and industrial clients to access advanced laboratory testing services without owning physical lab infrastructure. The company plans to grow its presence across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe while expanding research infrastructure in existing markets.
Development Bank of Nigeria
Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) is focused on capacity building and providing access to finance for MSMEs in Nigeria. They offer training programs and grant funding to support entrepreneurship and business growth, leveraging partnerships and a learning management system to reach a wide range of businesses.
Development Partners International
DiGAME Investments
Digital Africa
Digital Africa invests in early-stage African tech startups. They focus on sectors like mobility, fintech, and enterprise software. They provide seed funding to support scaling operations, launching new platforms, and expanding teams. Their investments aim to address local and regional challenges, improve access to services, and drive innovation across the continent.
Digital Africa’s FUZE
Digital Africa's FUZE invests in early-stage African tech startups. They focus on B2B wholesale distribution networks, helping African manufacturers grow their brands and achieve export-ready status. They aim to position Made-in-Africa products in major global retail outlets, hotels, airports, specialized shops, and restaurants.
Digital Currency Group
Digital Currency Group (DCG) invests in blockchain technology companies. They participated in a Seed round for Zone, a Nigerian payment infrastructure company that uses blockchain to provide banking as a service to African organizations.
Digital Energy Facility
The Digital Energy Facility supports companies with innovative solutions for increasing energy accessibility in African communities. It focuses on the integration of renewable energy with public utility performance improvement. The challenge targets early-stage African startups and public utilities independent system operators, providing grants for equipment, software, capacity building, and technical assistance.
Digital Square
DisrupTech Ventures
DisrupTech Ventures invests in African tech startups. They focus on companies with clear value propositions and regional scalability, as seen in their investment in Winich Farms. They also back companies in sectors like energy, mobility, and agritech, indicating a broad interest in infrastructure and market inefficiencies.
DisruptAD
DisruptAD invests in technology companies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They focus on companies with strong user bases and innovative solutions, particularly those leveraging AI for personalization and content delivery. The fund aims to support companies in improving their technology, expanding their services, and scaling globally.
Distributed Capital
I am sorry, but I cannot provide information about Distributed Capital, as it is not mentioned in the provided articles. The articles discuss funding rounds for Kapu, Enko Education, Insight Terra, and Hamilton, but do not include any details about Distributed Capital's investment focus or fund size.
Distributed Global
Distributed Global invests in crypto and blockchain-related companies. They participated in a $23 million seed round for MARA, a Pan-African crypto exchange platform. The firm co-invests with other crypto investors.
Dorsal Capital
DotExe Ventures
DotExe Ventures invests in early-stage African tech startups. They participated in a pre-seed round for Happy Pay, a South African company. They focus on supporting innovative solutions within the African tech ecosystem.
Dragonfly Capital
Dragonfly Capital invests in crypto and blockchain-related companies. They participated in the Series A round of Ejara, a Cameroonian fintech company providing an investment app for cryptocurrency purchases and decentralized wallets, aiming to expand cryptocurrency activity in Francophone Africa. They co-led the Series A round of Afriex, a Nigerian fintech enabling global money transfers.
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation invests in early-stage social enterprises addressing global challenges. They focus on ventures with the potential for significant impact, often supporting organizations in sectors like healthcare, education, and economic empowerment. They participated in the seed round of Emata, an Ugandan fintech company providing credit financing for farming operations in East Africa.
Drone Fund
Drone Fund invests in SORA Technology, an Africa-focused health tech company that uses drones and AI to combat infectious disease spread in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, and the DRC. SORA Malaria Control uses drones and AI to identify and manage mosquito breeding sites.
Dubai Future District Fund
Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF) invests in early-stage startups. They participated in seed rounds for MoneyHash and DXwand, both based in Egypt, indicating an interest in the MENA region. The fund supports companies that are improving technology and expanding business growth initiatives.
Dunbar Capital
Dunbar Capital invests in early-stage African tech companies. They participated in the seed round of a Nigerian BaaS provider, Maplerad, which offers cross-border payment solutions in fiat and cryptocurrency. Maplerad intends to use the funding to increase client acquisition, obtain new licenses, expand its staff, and solidify its position across Africa.
Dutch Founders Fund (DFF)
Dutch Founders Fund (DFF) invests in early-stage startups. While the provided articles focus on African tech companies receiving funding, DFF is not mentioned as a direct investor in any of these specific deals. Therefore, a specific African investment thesis cannot be derived from this document.
Dutch Good Growth Fund
The Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) invests in companies and projects in developing countries and emerging markets. It focuses on sectors like mobility, clean energy, and fintech, supporting scalable, climate-aligned, and digitally enabled startups in Africa. The fund aims to foster sustainable economic growth and development by providing capital and expertise to promising ventures.
E Squared
E Squared is a South African venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies. They are sector-agnostic. They focus on businesses that have the potential to scale and create a positive impact. They have invested in sectors such as fintech, agritech, and SaaS.
E Squared Investments
E Squared Investments focuses on early-stage investments in African tech startups. They target innovative solutions in sectors like healthtech, as seen with their investment in Zoie Health, a digital women's health clinic. The firm aims to support companies that are expanding their product offerings and extending services across the African continent.
E-Squared Ventures
E-Squared Ventures invests in early-stage African tech startups. They focus on companies addressing critical needs and demonstrating strong growth potential across various sectors. They provide capital and support to help these startups scale and achieve sustainable impact within the African market.
E2 Investments
E2 Investments invests in African tech startups. They participated in a $10 million funding round for MyNextCar, a South African company enabling ride-hailing services by providing vehicles to individuals and operators. MyNextCar is a partner of Bolt in South Africa, supporting low-cost ride-hailing operations.
E3 Capital
E3 Capital invests in startups focused on energy and digital infrastructure, particularly those enabling clean energy trading and access across Africa. They target companies with clear value propositions and regional scalability, as seen in their investments in Open Access Energy and Plentify. They invest in seed and Series A rounds.
E3 Capital’s Low-Carbon Economy Fund
E3 Capital's Low-Carbon Economy Fund invests in companies that are enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy. They focus on businesses that provide access to affordable and reliable clean energy, promote resource efficiency, and build climate resilience. The fund supports companies in East Africa and is stage agnostic.
E4E Africa
E4E Africa invests in early-stage African tech startups. They focus on sectors like fintech, digital travel solutions, and SaaS platforms that leverage data for sustainability. The firm supports companies in South Africa and other African countries, aiming to help them scale and expand their customer base.
E4EAfrica
E4EAfrica invests in early-stage African tech companies. They participated in Talk360's pre-Series A round. The firm focuses on innovative solutions addressing key challenges in Africa, with a particular interest in scalable and impactful businesses.
E4Impact Accelerator
E4Impact Accelerator supports early-stage Kenyan Agrotech startups. They provide access to cash prizes, incubation programs, boot camp training, coaching, mentoring, technical assistance, networking opportunities, and links to financial aid/investment interests.
E62 Ventures
E62 Ventures invests in early-stage African tech startups. They focus on companies building solutions for the African market, with a particular interest in sectors like fintech, e-commerce, and SaaS. They look for innovative business models and strong founding teams with the potential to scale across the continent.
EAEF
EBRD
EBRD invests in CardoO, an Egyptian IoT device manufacturer, to improve its products and enable local manufacturers to produce consumer electronics with IoT under the CardoO brand. They also co-invest in Paymob, an Egyptian payment solutions provider, to streamline payment processes, enhance security, and support a wide range of industries in the MENA region.
ECC
Jangoo Capital is a pan-African 'gender equal investor.' They completed the first close of their fund. No further information on thesis, stage, or typical check size is available in the provided articles.
EDFI
EDFI AgriFI
EDFI AgriFI invests in companies that improve the sustainability, productivity, and inclusiveness of agricultural value chains in developing countries. They focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and aim to promote sustainable agriculture practices, enhance market access for farmers, and create jobs in rural areas.
