Partech Africa II reached its final closing at €280M ($300M+) with all major investors from its predecessor fund as well as top tier investors making their first commitment into the African VC ecosystem and the Partech Africa platform, following a strong first closing announced last year [2023].

Sovereign funds and pension funds from the Middle East and the United States are among the new types of international institutions that have been drawn in by this oversubscribed final closing. New strategic investors are also a part of it.

• Africa Re and
• Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF)

who are becoming the next group of early supporters of Partech Africa:

• Orange
• AXIAN Investment and
• The African Development Bank Group (AFDB)

Overall, the fund has garnered backing from more than forty international investors, including family offices, significant Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and commercial investors like South Suez and Bertelsmann. The group of DFIs consists of:

• Anchor investor, KfW, the German Development Bank
• The European Investment Bank (EIB)
• The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, FMO
• The Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, Bpifrance Investissement
• British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, and
• Impact investor, DEG – Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and Proparco.

Key info about the fund:

• Name: Partech Africa II
• Size: $300M+, hard cap reached
• Fund Overview: Backing champions of African tech since 2017, the Africa team seeks the next generation of category leaders across the continent. Investing from seed to growth, the team is based on the ground, and leverages their operational expertise and Partech’s global networks to support founders on their journey to scale.
• Sector Focus:  The team partners with entrepreneurs who combine technology and operational excellence to address large opportunities across the continent and across sectors.
• Stage Focus: With initial tickets ranging from $1M to $15M, the funds focus on Seed to Series C rounds.
• Geographic Focus:  Partech Africa II invests in tech-enabled business across the whole African continent.
• Portfolio:  Partech Africa II already counts 3 investments in its portfolio in Egypt, South African (Revio) and Senegal. The team expects to build a portfolio of over 20 companies across the continent. The previous fund invested in 17 companies including champions such as Wave, Yoco, TradeDepot and MoneyFellows.

Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech, stated, “We are grateful for the support and commitment of our investors: almost all Fund I investors reinvested and some more than doubled their commitment.”

“We are extremely grateful for the backing of a fresh group of strategic investors from the US, the Middle East, and Africa—for a few of them, this is their first investment in African technology.”

In order to support African companies and founders on their growth journey in both local and international markets, Partech Africa II will intensify its strategy of investing throughout Africa, with initial tickets ranging from $1 million to $15 million on Seed to Series C rounds. The Fund’s portfolio currently includes three investments with:

• A real-estate platform in Egypt
• A payment orchestration startup in South Africa, and
• An e-commerce platform in Senegal

The team expects to build a portfolio of over 20 companies across the continent.

Our team and presence across the continent are also growing. Tidjane Deme, General Partner at Partech, continued, “We are thrilled to have senior investment officer Tito Cookey-Gam join the team and open our office in Lagos, home to almost a third of our portfolio.”

“By being present in Dakar, Nairobi, Dubai, and now Lagos, we are enhancing our local support for business owners.”

Along with this growth, Partech Africa is currently hiring an Investment Analyst based in Lagos and a senior profile for “Portfolio Strategy & Operations” to oversee value creation and exit building.

As noted in Partech’s most recent 2023 Africa Tech Venture Capital Report, there has been a 50% decline in the number of investors participating in the African tech ecosystem at the time of the Partech Africa II final closing announcement.

Collon stated, “It is more important than ever to be able to anchor rounds at all stages, from Seed to Early Growth.”

It reaffirms our goal of fostering the growth of tech firms that will revolutionize African economies and influence global innovation in the future.