Enza Capital, a Kenya-based venture capital firm, has raised $58 million across two funds. The fundraising is significant because African startups generally struggle to raise money from venture capitalists.
The company first launched an early-stage fund to “find, back, and help build category-defining startups” in the pre-seed and seed stages in 2019. The fund is still active and has invested in fintech, logistics, health, human capital, and climate tech companies, according to Tech Crunch.
Enza Capital, which now self-describes as a multi-stage investor due to its larger follow-on investments to Series B, is still paying attention to these industries in its second fund launched this year, Tech Crunch reported.
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To date, the company has made 48 investments in 31 companies. The investment, according to co-founder, Mike Mompi, spans 8 African markets, including Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Egypt, and South Africa.
The Nairobi-based VC firm invested in Guidewheel, a Kenyan climate tech startup, from its pilot fund. Guidewheel has since expanded to the U.S. and Mexico following a Greycroft-led Series A round.
Another firm on the Enza Capital radar is Shara, a Kenyan fintech. The VC firm provided a pre-seed check to the company before it raised a yet-to-be-announced Series A round led by Index Ventures, Tech Crunch said.
Also, Enza Capital has invested in firms like Autochek, Jumba, Craydel, Cloudline, and SeamlessHR, with its check size ranging from $250,000 to $5 million.
The venture capital firm, which operates an eight-man team across Nairobi, Johannesburg, London and New York, says it plans to expand to Nigerian and Francophone Africa to support its portfolio companies in those markets. Ahead of that, the VC firm has announced its founder partner program, where founders and leadership teams of its portfolio companies become co-owners of the firm. Enza Capital says it will allocate 10% of its carry pool to these partners based on referrals and investment size.
Per figures compiled by the African Private Capital Association (APCA), foreign venture capital investment into Africa in the first half of 2023 fell roughly 40%, with only $2.1 billion worth of deals occurring throughout the continent compared to $3.5 billion raised in the same period in 2022. That is why firms like Enza are being commended for the support they are giving to African startups.
