Flat6Labs has launched a $95m Seed Fund to nurture early-stage tech startups in Africa. The fund will invest in over 160 early-stage startups over the next five years operating in the technology sector in North, West, and East Africa, extending to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, and others. It will focus on sectors that accelerate digital inclusion through information technologies and contribute to addressing social and environmental challenges, such as HealthTech, FinTech, EdTech, GreenTech, AgriTech, ClimateTech, among others. The Africa Seed Fund has the potential to create over 14,000 jobs and generate revenue of more than $700m. Flat6Labs will be investing in 160 companies in Pre-Seed up to Pre-Series A stage, with tickets ranging from $150k to $500k.
Flat6Labs has invested over $16m in startups, and over $191m raised in follow-on funding while creating more than 2,500 direct jobs and 80,000 indirect jobs through its first two funds in Egypt and Tunisia. The firm’s proven track record in carefully vetting and investing in promising startups in North Africa since it was founded 12 years ago has led to the successful launch of the Africa Seed Fund. The fund will be led by Ramez El-Serafy and Dina el-Shenoufy as General Partners for the fund.
Flat6Labs’ Africa Seed Program will provide portfolio companies joining the program with seed funding, regional business support, access to a regional network of seasoned local mentors, as well as regulatory and logistical support to set up and grow their businesses. Two cohorts will be run annually, with an average of 10 to 15 startups per cohort. The first investments in the selected startups are planned to be made before the end of 2023.
The African tech ecosystem has continued to grow in 2022, with funding for the African sector increasing to $6.5bn, up from $6.0bn in 2021, according to Partech 2022 Africa Venture Capital Report. The Africa Seed Fund’s significant influx of capital has the potential to create jobs, provide support to founders with female participation, and generate revenue.
Ramez El-Serafy, General Partner for ASF, says, “We are extremely excited about the launch of the Africa Seed Fund. Africa is one of the most exciting regions to invest in tech and innovation, with huge untapped potential and unique business opportunities. We will leverage our experience and knowledge to guide the startup founders to create truly scalable, investment-ready, Africa-based companies.”
Dina el-Shenoufy, General Partner for ASF, says, “The Africa Seed Fund is well-positioned to be a catalyst for driving long-term positive change that the youth of Africa really deserve, and to provide resources to the brightest of them while accelerating the future of the African continent.” The Africa Seed Fund is being established by Flat6Labs, project (SAIS), with the support of the GIZ on behalf of the German Government and through the Egyptian Agricultural Innovation Project (AIP) and Scaling Digital Agricultural Innovations through Start-ups project (SAIS).
