Grace Ashiru
After successfully investing $11 million in 29 initial-stage companies mainly concentrated in e-commerce, fintech, insurtech, health tech, and SaaS sectors, P1 Ventures, a comprehensive African venture capital firm, has achieved the first close of its new $50 million fund at $25 million.
What’s their goal? To bolster burgeoning startups and technological innovation throughout Africa.
In this second fund, the venture capital firm will maintain its focus on pivotal sectors such as e-commerce and fintech while broadening its reach to encompass startups in the artificial intelligence (AI) field.
One of the first AI ventures it backed is Nkoloso.ai, a startup from Senegal that employs satellite imagery and AI to efficiently manage expansive agricultural land areas through its newly initiated Entrepreneur In Residence program. Nkoloso.ai is among two AI startups and five total portfolio companies that the Dubai-based venture capital firm has supported from its second fund.
Within the Entrepreneur In Residence program, P1 Ventures aims to nurture an additional four startups in the coming four years, led by promising founders with the potential to achieve product-market fit and scale the product.
Although the firm generally centers on seed-stage investments, it takes pride in being a multistage fund, occasionally stepping into Series A and B rounds when opportunities resonate with its strategic direction.
Since its inception in 2021, it has invested in startups like the African super app platform Yassir, Egyptian fintech MoneyFellows, Moroccan B2B e-commerce platform Chari, Egyptian CRM platform Gameball, and health tech company Reliance Health.
The remarkable portfolio of P1 Ventures underlines its dedication to nurturing innovation and technological entrepreneurship in Africa, offering significant support to various sector startups, including the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence.
This substantial financial support pools resources from numerous African industrial conglomerates, private firms, funds of funds, and general partners of global funds based in the U.S. and Europe.
