As per the latest announcement, Seedstars International Ventures II (SIV II) is set to invest in 100 pre-seed and seed-stage companies across Asia, Africa, MENA, and LATAM in the next 3 years. Previously, they’ve invested in 81 companies in over 30 countries, with category-leading investments across the globe including Dastgyr (Pakistan, backed by Veon and SOSV), Foodics (MENA, backed by Sequoia and Prosus), MyRobin (Indonesia, backed by Accion Venture Lab and Antler), and many more.
The firm announced the first close of the fund with $20 million committed by notable investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Visa Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Symbiotics. In addition to the four co-anchors, the fund is backed by a number of serial entrepreneurs, angel investors and family offices bringing significant tech and emerging market knowhow to the consortium.
The latest investments will be focused on companies building for the future of finance, commerce, health, work and education, with follow-on investments up to Series A.
Charlie Graham-Brown, Seedstars Partner, comments, “I have no doubt about the abundance of talented founders or the market opportunities, but the challenges can’t be ignored. Our strategy innovates on so many levels to mitigate risk, be it through our country diversification, portfolio construction strategy, value creation platform, or the blended finance structure. We have a unique recipe, an incredible team, and backers in place to build on the success of the first fund and level the playing field for tech entrepreneurs around the world.”
Seedstars’ focus on supporting scalable technology companies in emerging markets, solving major societal challenges like access to finance, health, or education, and working closely with entrepreneurs to scale their businesses means that the impact thesis is embedded in the investment thesis. The fund also includes a blended finance component with a first-loss tranche that provides downside protection for investments in the lowest-income markets.
Seedstars Partner Patricia Sosrodjojo comments, “Investing and impact don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Our strategy combines these two critical objectives in one and we believe that is what both founders and investors are searching for.”
Founded in 2012 by Pierre-Alain, Michael and Adrien, three entrepreneurs from Switzerland who connected over their passion for entrepreneurship and building companies from scratch, now Seedstars is also set to formally debut Seedstars Capital, a fund platform for multiple regional and thematic funds. The platform’s first strategies include Seedstars International Ventures and Seedstars Africa Ventures with more funds set to be announced shortly.
