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Janngo Capital, an African venture company with a major focus on women-led and women-founded startups, has closed its second fund at $78 million. The fund was oversubscribed by 20 per cent as it is more than the initial target of $63 million.
This comes just two years after the first close of the fund at $28.1 million, which means the VC has so far raised $106.1 million. The second fund was backed by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), both of whom took part in the first close.
New investors who joined the fund include the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, Tunisian fund, ANAVA, and the endowment fund of Ghana-based university Ashesi University. The U.S International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Fatoumata Ba
Speaking about the second close of the fund, Janngo Capital Founder Fatoumata Bâ said the effort was to ensure that African startups have proportional access to VC funding to back the economic growth of the continent.
“Africa represents 17 per cent of the global population, yet attracts only 1-2 per cent of global VC funding, a share that has remained stagnant despite growth from $150 million raised a decade ago to around $4 billion-$5 billion today. If we believe tech is critical to economic development in Africa, we should have proportional access to VC. That’s why our goal wasn’t just about hitting the target or achieving oversubscription — I wanted to attract private LPs, especially African LPs,” she said.
Janngo Capital is a venture company with a strong focus on gender equality. Indeed, women-led or women-founded startups make up 56 per cent of its portfolio across both funds. This includes Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform Sabi which has a female CEO, Anu Adedoyin Adasolum.
Speaking about the VC’s gender-equal focus, Founder, Fatoumata Bâ said the focus is important because Africa, with the highest rate of female entrepreneurs, should have a commensurate rate of investment in those ventures.
“This focus is important because, while Africa has the world’s highest rate of female entrepreneurship, only a tiny share of global VC funding flows to female founders. So, showing that a high-impact thesis—directing capital to diverse founders, early-stage VC, and sectors beyond fintech—can deliver was essential for us,” she said.
She said the thesis remains valid and it hasn’t changed because it has been proven with exits of portfolio startups like Expensya, where they were the first VC on their cap table. Furthermore, as a female-founded, female-led, and predominantly female-owned fund, it is only natural that Janngo Capital places high importance on investing in female entrepreneurs.
Male and Female Cut-out Figures on top of Bundles of Twenty USD United States Dollar Notes / Bills. Pile of Notes under Female Figure lower than that for the Male Figure.
Janngo Capital launched its first fund in 2018. Following the first close of the fund in 2022, the VC firm said it initially planned to invest in 25 startups. However, with the new influx of funding, Founder, Fatoumata Bâ, said the firm is now looking to invest in an additional 10 to 15 startups over the next 5 years.
So far, the VC firm has backed 21 startups across 30 investment rounds. Though the first fund of $10 million went majorly into the seed funding rounds of 11 startups including two female-led startups, Expensya and Sabi, the VC also invested in advanced funding rounds, mostly terminating at the series B stage.
By the time it is all done, Ba projects that the company’s portfolio will have between 25 and 40 companies. She also said the second fund will continue with its investment focus of not investing lower than the seed stage, and not higher than the Series B stage. The VC claims between 15 to 30 per cent ownership in startups.
Janngo Capital, with offices in Abidjan, Mauritius, Tunis and Paris, invests between €150,000 to €5 million in startups operating in the healthcare, logistics, financial services, retail, agritech, mobility, and the creator economy sectors.
Related story: Kenya and Egypt top Nigeria as choice venture funding destinations in Africa in 2024
The post Janngo Capital, an African VC with 56% female-led startups closes $78m second fund first appeared on Technext.
This comes just two years after the first close of the fund at $28.1 million, which means the VC has so far raised $106.1 million. The second fund was backed by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), both of whom took part in the first close.
New investors who joined the fund include the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, Tunisian fund, ANAVA, and the endowment fund of Ghana-based university Ashesi University. The U.S International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Fatoumata Ba
Speaking about the second close of the fund, Janngo Capital Founder Fatoumata Bâ said the effort was to ensure that African startups have proportional access to VC funding to back the economic growth of the continent.
“Africa represents 17 per cent of the global population, yet attracts only 1-2 per cent of global VC funding, a share that has remained stagnant despite growth from $150 million raised a decade ago to around $4 billion-$5 billion today. If we believe tech is critical to economic development in Africa, we should have proportional access to VC. That’s why our goal wasn’t just about hitting the target or achieving oversubscription — I wanted to attract private LPs, especially African LPs,” she said.
Janngo Capital’s growing gender-equal portfolio
Janngo Capital is a venture company with a strong focus on gender equality. Indeed, women-led or women-founded startups make up 56 per cent of its portfolio across both funds. This includes Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform Sabi which has a female CEO, Anu Adedoyin Adasolum.
Speaking about the VC’s gender-equal focus, Founder, Fatoumata Bâ said the focus is important because Africa, with the highest rate of female entrepreneurs, should have a commensurate rate of investment in those ventures.
“This focus is important because, while Africa has the world’s highest rate of female entrepreneurship, only a tiny share of global VC funding flows to female founders. So, showing that a high-impact thesis—directing capital to diverse founders, early-stage VC, and sectors beyond fintech—can deliver was essential for us,” she said.
She said the thesis remains valid and it hasn’t changed because it has been proven with exits of portfolio startups like Expensya, where they were the first VC on their cap table. Furthermore, as a female-founded, female-led, and predominantly female-owned fund, it is only natural that Janngo Capital places high importance on investing in female entrepreneurs.
Male and Female Cut-out Figures on top of Bundles of Twenty USD United States Dollar Notes / Bills. Pile of Notes under Female Figure lower than that for the Male Figure.
Janngo Capital launched its first fund in 2018. Following the first close of the fund in 2022, the VC firm said it initially planned to invest in 25 startups. However, with the new influx of funding, Founder, Fatoumata Bâ, said the firm is now looking to invest in an additional 10 to 15 startups over the next 5 years.
So far, the VC firm has backed 21 startups across 30 investment rounds. Though the first fund of $10 million went majorly into the seed funding rounds of 11 startups including two female-led startups, Expensya and Sabi, the VC also invested in advanced funding rounds, mostly terminating at the series B stage.
By the time it is all done, Ba projects that the company’s portfolio will have between 25 and 40 companies. She also said the second fund will continue with its investment focus of not investing lower than the seed stage, and not higher than the Series B stage. The VC claims between 15 to 30 per cent ownership in startups.
Janngo Capital, with offices in Abidjan, Mauritius, Tunis and Paris, invests between €150,000 to €5 million in startups operating in the healthcare, logistics, financial services, retail, agritech, mobility, and the creator economy sectors.
Related story: Kenya and Egypt top Nigeria as choice venture funding destinations in Africa in 2024
The post Janngo Capital, an African VC with 56% female-led startups closes $78m second fund first appeared on Technext.