In a recent bit of news, France-based global technology investment firm Partech just announced the first closing of its Partech Africa II fund at €245 million, exceeding its target. Africa-focused strategy II is backed by major Development Finance Institutions as well as institutional and commercial investors.
The fund saw participation from global investors including KfW, the German Development Bank, joined by European Investment Bank (EIB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, Bpifrance Investissement, British International Investment (BII), DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and Proparco, as well as commercial investors such as South Suez and Bertelsmann.
“We had set an ambitious goal for Partech Africa II at €230M, with a hard cap at €280M, essentially doubling the size of our first fund. We overreached it with a closed amount already above the target fund size.” said Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech Africa. “This would not have been possible without the trust and the support from our major existing investors. We are honoured that top-tier global institutions and strategic commercial investors have decided to back Partech Africa II.”
With Partech Africa II, our investment thesis is actually to pursue the successful strategy of our first fund.” explained Tidjane Dème, General Partner at Partech Africa. “We launched this strategy when less than $400M were invested annually in equity on the continent. African tech companies are now raising $6B annually validating our early commitment beyond any expectations. Still, we know there are many more champions to build in Africa and we are ready to support them.”
Fund focused on African startups
In order to identify and support the next generation of category leaders across the continent, the fund will double-down on its successful strategy.
Additionally, it is a sequel to Partech Africa I, which closed at $143 million in 2018. This was the first African fund to invest in startups at the Series A and B stages across nine countries, and it now operates in 27 countries.
From seed to growth, now Partech Africa II will offer initial tickets of $1 million to $15 million for entrepreneurs who are using technology and excellent operations to solve some of the hard-to-solve but very large opportunities in all sectors.
