# Top 50 Impact Startup Investors in Africa in October 2023

## Electrification Financing Initiative
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium
- Relevant deals: 10
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series A
- Focus: Energy, Solar, Renewable Energy

Impact investment in sustainable energy

## E3 Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 10
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Convertible Note
- Focus: Solar, Energy, Renewable Energy

Energy Access Ventures invests in growing, entrepreneurial businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa addressing the lack of electrification in the region with new technology and innovative business models. The fund is backed by Schneider Electric, the leading energy management multinational, and a number of public-sector investors.

## Kepple Africa Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Relevant deals: 6
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Financial Services, FinTech, Software

Kepple Africa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm.

## Acumen
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 6
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Financial Services, Health Care, Agriculture

Acumen is a nonprofit venture fund that invests in early-stage companies bringing critical services like agriculture, clean energy, education, financial inclusion, healthcare and workforce development to low-income communities in 14 countries across East and West Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Since 2001, Acumeninvested $128 million in 128 companies that have transformed the lives of over 308 million low-income people.

## Novastar Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya
- Relevant deals: 5
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: Agriculture, Internet, Clean Energy

For the many, not just the few. For good.

## Aster
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 5
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: Software, Energy, Solar

Aster is a Venture Capital firm with offices in 4 major innovation hubs: Paris, London, Tel Aviv and San Francisco. Since 2000, they have partnered with more than 60 teams of entrepreneurs that are transforming markets with disruptive offers and technologies. They are always open to exploring new ideas related to mobility, energy and industrysectors that they have been covering until now. They invest in all stages, with a preference for the early phase.They are more than investors and they intend to act as an ally for entrepreneurs by connecting them to a valuable ecosystem of experts, influencers and business leaders. From marketing to executive talent, their commitment to the growth of their portfolio companies as well as the entire venture ecosystem also involves the commitment of their dedicated Operations team, their innovation strategy consulting firm (Aster Fab) and a crowdfunding branch to further expand opportunities (Aster Crowd).Some of their success stories include Solairedirect (acquired by Engie in 2015), Digital Lumens (acquired by Osram in 2017) and Avantium (IPOed in 2017).

## Norfund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Relevant deals: 5
- Stages: Private Equity, Debt Financing
- Focus: Energy, Financial Services, Renewable Energy

Norfund is the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries with 24.9 bill. NOK in total commitments (2019).

## All On
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria
- Relevant deals: 5
- Stages: Seed, Grant
- Focus: Energy, Solar, Renewable Energy

All On: Energy Innovations. Powerful Collaboration. Our mission is to increase access to commercial energy products and services for under-served and un-served off-grid energy markets in Nigeria, with a special focus on the Niger Delta sources in Nigeria.

## Lion’s Head Global Partners
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 4
- Stages: Debt Financing
- Focus: Renewable Energy, Solar, Energy

A global investment banking, asset management and advisory firm focused on delivering value to our clients in emerging and frontier markets

## SunFunder
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya
- Relevant deals: 4
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series C
- Focus: Solar, Energy, Renewable Energy

SunFunder is a specialist financing company dedicated to pioneering and scaling clean energy and climate investments in emerging markets.

## GAIA Impact Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 4
- Stages: Series A, Seed
- Focus: Solar, Energy, Renewable Energy

Gaia Impact Fund is a venture capital firm specializing in renewable energy that builds long-term partnerships with startups operating in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia with a strong environmental and social focus. The firm supports businesses enabling sustainable and affordable energy provision to local communities. In regions where energymixes are highly carbonized, it supports technological innovations and business models enabling a cost-efficient diffusion of renewable energy on a large scale.

## Global Partnerships
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Seattle, Washington, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Series A, Seed
- Focus: Clean Energy, Renewable Energy, Solar

Global Partnerships is an impact-first investor dedicated to expanding opportunity for people living in poverty. For 25 years GP has invested in sustainable solutions that help impoverished people increase their incomes and improve their lives, with core investments in livelihoods, education, health, energy, housing, and sanitation. Since inceptionGP has deployed $356.5 million in impact investments to 135 partners, bringing meaningful impact to over 14.7 million lives in 21 countries.What is Impact-First Investing?Impact-first investing means investing in a way that seeks the highest possible social impact, while seeking to preserve capital with a modest financial return for investors.Impact-first investing is distinctly different from return-first investing, which seeks the highest possible financial return (often without consideration of social or environmental consequences), and from philanthropy, which seeks the highest social impact without any preservation of capital.We believe that impact-first investing has an essential role to play in advancing sustainable solutions to poverty for millions of people worldwide.What Does Impact Mean to Global Partnerships?All of our impact-first investing is aimed at empowering poor and marginalized people to earn a living, provide the basic necessities of life for their families, and improve their lives. We seek social impact on four dimensions:Broadening Opportunity – We have a holistic understanding of poverty, so we invest across all facets of poverty: livelihoods, education, energy, health, housing, sanitation, and water.Deepening Inclusion – We invest at the edge of the market, emphasizing approaches that include people marginalized by depth of poverty, gender, and/or geography, including women and the rural poor.Serving Millions – We believe that every person matters, and want to expand opportunity for as many people as possible. We therefore focus on sustainable approaches that can, over time, scale to serve millions of people living in poverty.Improving Lives – We only invest where evidence convinces us that people living in poverty value the opportunity being delivered and are empowered by it – economically or otherwise – to improve their lives.

## LoftyInc Capital Management
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Carmel, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
- Focus: FinTech, Financial Services, Software

LoftyInc Capital Management empowers Afropreneurs to build a prosperous and equitable future in Africa. We deliver value to both founders and investors.........

## Opes Impact Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Milano, Lombardia, Italy
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Energy, Social Entrepreneurship, Renewable Energy

Opes-Lcef is an impact investor that provides catalytic capital to early-stage social enterprises in emerging markets.

## Factor[e] Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Angel
- Focus: Energy, Renewable Energy, Agriculture

Impact venture builders dedicated to supporting the people and ideas that turn challenges in energy, agriculture, mobility, and waste into de-carbonized solutions for emerging and frontier markets.

## Shell Foundation
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Grant, Seed, Series A
- Focus: Energy, Agriculture, Solar

Shell Foundation is an independent charity established by the Shell Group in 2000 to create and scale new solutions to global development challenges. We apply business thinking to major social and environmental issues linked to the energy sector – and seek to leverage the skills and networks of Shell where possible to deliver greater developmentimpact.Over the years, learning from both success and failure, we have established a new enterprise-based model to deliver significant and lasting social and environmental outcomes. We now deploy a blend of financial and non-financial resources to accelerate social innovation and harness private markets to deliver public benefit at scale.

## DOB Equity
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Veessen, Gelderland, The Netherlands
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Private Equity, Seed
- Focus: Food and Beverage, Farming, Health Care

DOB Equity is a private equity firm specializing in growth capital and buy-and-build strategies in small and medium companies.

## CRE Venture Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Financial Services, FinTech, Software

Founded in 2015, CRE Venture Capital invests in early stage tech companies that are levered to Africa. CRE is headquartered in the New York metro area, with a regional office in Lagos, Nigeria.

## Blue Haven Initiative
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Series A, Series B, Seed
- Focus: Solar, Energy, Financial Services

Blue Haven Initiative is an innovative family office dedicated to putting wealth to work for market returns and positive social and environmental change.

## Inspired Evolution Investment Management
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Cape Town, NA - South Africa, South Africa
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series E
- Focus: Energy, Renewable Energy, PaaS

Inspired Evolution established in 2007 as a specialised investment business to lead sustainable clean energy and resource efficiency investments across sub-Saharan Africa. Inspired Evolution offers a dedicated, multi-disciplinary, professional investment team with a deep track record targeting superior returns with measured development outcomes.Inspired Evolution’s investment focus is centered on clean energy and resource efficiency assets. We have demonstrated that capital deployment to investments in this specialised asset class, can generate exceptional returns at the nexus of social equity, ecological integrity and responsible economic growth. This lies at the heart of sustainable investing.Inspired Evolution’s view is that sustainability is not only everybody’s business as citizens of a rapidly globalising world, but that it will define the future of business and investment decisions.Inspired Evolution manages Evolution One Fund – its first dedicated, closed-ended third party investment fund. Evolution One Fund makes early stage, expansion and development stage, and later stage or mature equity and equity-related investments primarily for control or significant minority positions in market-leading growth businesses located principally in South and southern Africa.

## VilCap Investments
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: San Francisco, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Financial Services, Health Care, FinTech

VilCap Investments is an early-stage impact investing fund, backing companies addressing the most pressing social and environmental challenges.

## AXA Investment Managers
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Puteaux, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series B, Series C
- Focus: Biotechnology, Health Care, Medical

They are an active, long-term, global, multi-asset investor focused on enabling more people to harness the power of investing to meet their financial goals.As the investment partner of AXA Group, the A-rated protection and wealth management provider, we draw on a longstanding heritage of creating solutions to manage real-life risks andchallenges.At the same time, our investment professionals are committed to finding the most efficient and sustainable sources of return across world markets, from equities to fixed income, real assets to other alternative asset classes.

## DILA Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed
- Focus: E-Commerce, FinTech, Financial Services

DILA Capital is a Mexico City-based VC Firm that fosters the growth of Mexican entrepreneurs and Start-Up Companies. By offering equity investments, debt financing and guidance, DILA strives to add value to our invested companies and entrepreneurs. In addition to our vast entrepreneur network, knowledge of the Mexican market and experience of ourpartners.

## CDC Group
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series B
- Focus: Financial Services, Banking, Finance

British International Investment is the UK's development finance institution. We've been at the forefront of supporting companies in developing countries for more than 70 years.

## Mani Kapital
- Type: VC Fund
- Relevant deals: 2
- Focus: Communities, Clean Energy, Renewable Energy

Mani Kapital is an investment management firm.

## GIIG Africa Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Port Louis, Port Louis, Mauritius
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed
- Focus: Environmental Engineering, Health Care, Ride Sharing

GIIG invest in seed, growth and late stage companies.

## Alphamundi
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series B, Series A, Debt Financing
- Focus: Agriculture, Solar, Energy

AlphaMundi Group Ltd is a commercial entity based in Switzerland and exclusively dedicated to Impact Investing: profitable investments that generate substantial net benefits to society. It was founded in 2007 by a group of partners with extensive experience in the financial industry as well as responsible investments, microfinance andphilanthropy.AlphaMundi provides debt and equity financing to scalable social ventures in strategic sustainable human development sectors such as microfinance, affordable education, fair trade agriculture and renewable energy. AlphaMundi is currently investing out of its impact debt fund, SocialAlpha Investment Fund (SAIF) - Bastion, domiciled in Luxembourg. AlphaMundi also manages co-investments for SAIF-Bastion investors and third parties.​AlphaMundi partners believe that Impact Investing is a new tool for development that can enhance more classical responsible investment approaches (which often lack impact ​measurability) and complement charitable solutions (which often lack financial viability). To this extent, the firm also contributes to the emergence of Impact Investing through education events, publications and industry associations. Impact investments are now being integrated by leading US and European banks, pension funds, foundations and family offices into traditional investment portfolios, as primarily decorrelated, illiquid and profitable financial assets.

## Proparco
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series B
- Focus: Financial Services, Finance, Energy

Proparco is devoted to private sector funding in the sustainable development sector.

## Triodos Investment Management
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Zeist, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series A
- Focus: Financial Services, FinTech, Energy

Triodos is a global pioneer of sustainable banking. Their mission is to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change.

## Persistent
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Solar, Energy, Clean Energy

Africa's Climate Venture Builder - We believe in the power of climate-positive economic development in Africa. For the last decade, we have been working hand in hand with exceptional entrepreneurs, investing both financial and human capital to build successful climate ventures on the continent. Our companies offer competitive financial returns required to drive lasting impact.

## Seedstars Africa Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Energy, FinTech, Software

Seedstars Africa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund investing in high-growth companies active across Sub-Saharan Africa.

## Gray Matters Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Education, Health Care, E-Learning

We are an impact investor in the global south. Our deep roots in microfinance and education finance have demonstrated profit with purpose. We focus on self-development and skilling technology for women to find meaningful work.

## Goodwell Investments
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: FinTech, Financial Services, Software

Goodwell Investments is a pioneering investment firm focused on financial inclusion, fintech and inclusive growth in sectors providing

## Oikocredit International
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Amersfoort, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series B
- Focus: Financial Services, Finance, FinTech

Oikocredit is guided by the principle of empowering people. Their experience proves that the most effective and sustainable means of assisting those in need is providing an opportunity to help themselves.

## Anaxago
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Series B
- Focus: Biotechnology, Health Care, SaaS

Anaxago is a brand new crowdfunding platform dedicated to innovative companies. Anaxago aims at changing the traditional equity capital investment model. Their goal is to forget about the capitalistic-only and go for a truly sharing and participative investment model. Thanks to Anaxago, entrepreneurs can benefit from the financial support oftheir investors but also learn from the shareholders' experience, expertise and network. Each investor can take an active part to the company life and so be a part of a lively entrepreneurial adventure.They offer a small range of companies each month to their investors community. Startups and small companies are chosen with good care and have to go through a whole process of financial analysis. They also prefer to select companies with a real innovative value added. With Anaxago, young and small companies can find funding and support to grow and develop. They give them a chance to be the actors of tomorrow's growth and reboost their economy.Since its launch, Anaxago gathered 100 000 members and invested more than 130M€ funding more than 200 businesses.

## Helios Investment Partners
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Private Equity, Debt Financing
- Focus: Financial Services, Energy, Oil and Gas

Helios Investment Partners is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in buyouts of going concerns, recapitalization, mezzanine, growth capital for private enterprises, restructurings joint ventures, startups; either green-field or brownfield; and the majority or blocking-minority structured investments in listed entities. It seeksto invest in the telecommunications, media, financial services, power, utilities, travel, leisure, distribution, fast-moving consumer goods, logistics, and Agro-allied sectors. The firm prefers to invest in Africa with a focus on Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. It seeks to invest between $15 million and $200 million in an individual transaction. The firm prefers to have a board seat in its portfolio companies. Helios Investment Partners LLP was founded in 2004 and is based in London, United Kingdom.

## Launch Africa
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Ebène, Plaines Wilhems, Mauritius
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Financial Services, FinTech, Information Technology

Launch Africa is a leading Pan-African VC fund solving the significant funding gap in the Seed and pre-Series A investment landscape in Africa.

## Investisseurs & Partenaires
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Financial Services, Health Care, Food and Beverage

Investisseurs et Partenaires

## Better Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Oakland, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
- Focus: Health Care, Biotechnology, Software

Better Ventures is the amplifier of essential science and technology startups.

## EcoEnterprises Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Costa Rica, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series C
- Focus: Agriculture, Energy, Biomass Energy

EcoEnterprises Fund offers tailored growth capital and strategic guidance to innovative impact businesses in order to scale and optimize their financial, environmental and social performance. For nearly 20 years, we have successfully proven our unique approach, managing two funds that have financed over 30 companies across 11 countries. Our 3rdfund, EcoEnterprises Partners III, LP, was launched in May 2018, building on our track record of delivering portfolio results while generating fair and sustainable livelihoods for local communities, and preserving our most important asset: Planet Earth.

## KFW DEG
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Debt Financing, Grant
- Focus: Financial Services, Finance, Banking

KFW DEG offers financing, advice and support to private sector enterprises operating in developing and emerging-market countries. Their customers can rely on their expertise: They can benefit from their market knowledge, their 21 locations worldwide, and their international network. For entrepreneurial success and development.

## ENGIE Rassembleurs d'Energies initiative
- Type: VC Fund
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Series C
- Focus: Solar, Agriculture, Energy

ENGIE Rassembleurs d'Energies initiative is the Group provides technical and financial support.

## Finnfund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Debt Financing, Series B
- Focus: Financial Services, FinTech, Renewable Energy

Finnfund is a Finnish development finance company that provides long-term risk capital for private projects in developing countries. Apart from co-investing with Finnish companies they can finance ventures that use Finnish technology, cooperate with Finnish partners on a long-term basis or generate major environmental or social benefits.

## Persistent Energy Partners
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series B
- Focus: Energy, Solar, Software

Africa's Climate Venture Builder - We believe in the power of climate-positive economic development in Africa. For the last decade, we have been working hand in hand with exceptional entrepreneurs, investing both financial and human capital to build successful climate ventures on the continent. Our companies offer competitive financial returns required to drive lasting impact.

## CoCapital
- Type: VC Fund
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series C
- Focus: Agriculture, Energy, Biomass Energy

CoCapital provides dedicated Seed and Early Stage investment solutions for specialist Technology startups, prime Real Estate ventures as well as other alternative investment products.

## Maroc Numeric Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Casablanca, Grand Casablanca, Morocco
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Online Portals, Enterprise Software, FinTech

Maroc Numeric Fund is a tech VC fund investing in Morocco.

## Origin Capital Management
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: San Francisco, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 1
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Health Care, Energy, Software

Origin Capital Management is an employee owned hedge fund sponsor that invests in the public equity and hedging markets of USA.

## Boost VC
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: San Mateo, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 1
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Software, Virtual Reality, Blockchain

Boost VC: The Pre-Seed Fund Making Sci-FI a Reality. Investing in crypto, virtual reality, augmented reality, AI, Ocean Tech, Space Tech, human augmentation, exoskeletons and more.

## Sagemcom
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Rueil-malmaison, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 1
- Stages: Series A
- Focus: Energy, Renewable Energy

Sagemcom is a French high-tech group of international dimensions, the group operates on the broadband (digital home, set-top boxes, Internet routers, telephony and multimedia terminals), smart city (smart meter, smart grid, smart infra, smart sites and smart services), and Internet of Things markets (founding member of the LoRa Alliance).Withrevenue of around €1.3 billion, Sagemcom employs 4,000 people on five continents and ships every year more than 23 million terminals. Sagemcom aims to remain a world leader in communicating terminals with high added value.

## ARCH Emerging Markets Partners
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 1
- Stages: Series D, Debt Financing, Private Equity
- Focus: Solar, Finance, Consumer

ARCH is a specialist emerging markets investment advisor with deep experience of emerging markets, private equity, asset management and legal and governance matters over many decades.

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