Ventures Platform closes its second fund at $84 million

Ventures Platform, an African seed-stage fund, has reached the final close of its second institutional fund, VP Pan-African Fund II, at $84 million. That is almost double the $46 million raised for its first institutional fund in 2022.

The fund brings in four new institutional backers: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Norfund (Norway’s development finance institution), the Dutch family office Alphatron, and the Ashesi University Foundation, alongside a consortium of new family offices.

These new investors join limited partners from the fund’s first close, including Nigeria’s iDICE programme, the International Finance Corporation, Standard Bank, British International Investment, Proparco (through the EU-backed Choose Africa programme), Egypt’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), AfricaGrow, and Alder Tree Investment.

Ventures Platform plans to use the funds to write larger cheques to portfolio companies, targeting ownership stakes of 10% to 12% per startup.

The firm now invests across pre-seed, seed, and pre-Series A stages and typically follows its portfolio companies into later rounds.

“Across Africa, we’re seeing a new generation of founders building enduring companies with greater technical depth, stronger governance, bigger ambition and a clear understanding of the markets they serve. These businesses are being built for resilience as much as growth, and we believe that positions them to create lasting value,” Kola Aina, Founding and Managing Partner at Ventures Platform, said. 

With over a decade of operations, Ventures Platform has consistently backed category-leading companies, including _able (Credable), OmniRetail, PiggyVest, Raenest, Seamless Technologies (formerly SeamlessHR), and Moniepoint.