Grace Ashiru
Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), an African platform for venture capital, has received $43 million for its pan-African venture fund.
The fund invests in scalable, tech-enabled enterprises that are already making money and are solving hard problems in several industries on the African continent. Institutions like SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and private investors like Mr. Osamu Kaneda was among the first to invest in VKAV.
VKAV is the first fund from Verod-Kepple Africa Partners, a partnership between Verod Capital Management Limited and Kepple Africa Ventures. It has $43 million in it. More than 800,000 people and small businesses in nine regions, including six in Africa, are consumers of VKAV portfolio companies. These companies have also produced more than 2,000 employees.
Moove Africa, a smart vehicle finance platform for mobility entrepreneurs; NowPay, a financial wellness software for employees; and Koko Networks, a clean cooking technology firm, are some companies the company has invested in. Ceviant is a treasury management and trade finance platform; Chari is a B2B e-commerce for FMCG; Shuttlers is an economical and dependable shared mobility company; Nawy is an end-to-end platform that powers property transactions; and Julaya is a neobank for businesses in Africa.
Notable LPs, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, firmly support VKAV’s commitment. (SMTB).
This will be the first time JICA has invested in the African venture capital market.
