This is our official response to the false allegations of intellectual property theft. We wish to categorically state that this is false and the allegation that has been made is baseless and unfounded.
Last year was extraordinary. The Future Africa Fund invested $4.3 Million into 43 African startups. As a result, assets under management in our fund hit $30 million, up from $600,000 in 2017.
Read the message from our General Partner
@iaboyeji
here
Congratulations to portfolio company
@theflutterwave
and
@techprod_arch
on raising $170m and reaching unicorn status 🦄. Flutterwave is a testament to what can be built in Africa by those who believe. We back unicorns before the rest of the world 🚀
We're super excited to announce our investment activity for the third quarter of 2020. We've pioneered a new model of venture in Africa and we're glad to announce that we invested $1 million in 9 African startups 🎉
A huge congratulations once again to our CEO and General Partner, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, on his conferment as Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by the Federal Government of Nigeria. 🎉 We're super proud!
In January, our CEO
@iaboyeji
wrote you a letter outlining our bold vision as Future Africa continues to back mission-driven founders across Africa.
Here's an update on how far we've come this year: We've invested $3 million in 13 companies
Today we're glad to publish our thesis. This work defines why Future Africa exists and how we will build the future of Africa.
Please read and share: Why We Must Invest In the Future
#buildTheFuture
Congratulations once again to the
@termii_network
team on its $1.4M seed raise. We're honoured to be joined by Kepple Africa Ventures in this round. Termii is building a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) for businesses in Africa. via
@TechCrunch
Congrats to Future Africa portfolio company
@ReleafAfrica
on its recent raise. Ikenna, Uzoma and the Releaf team are enabling productivity and prosperity starting with Nigeria's agricultural sector
We have backed over 48 African startups building the future of Africa in several industries and turning our challenges into global business opportunities.
Join us to co-invest in these startups
Congratulations to
@Andela
on its $200M Series E raise led by Softbank & crossing unicorn status 🦄
Andela is an example of what we mean when we say "mission-driven founders turning Africa's most difficult challenges into global businesses"
We're evolving from a community in conversation with an African future to a platform for partnering with the innovators building it. Read more in today's announcement by our co-founder
@iaboyeji
One of the most important things to us at Future Africa is to connect founders to investors. So we had a drinks session for founders building interesting stuff to meet with Lawrence Barclay, the MD of Manta Ray VC
For Emerging, First time & Future African tech founders. Don’t let anyone bamboozle you in the name of investing.
These 3 books will help you:
Founder’s Pocket Guide:
- Startup Valuation ✅
- Cap Tables ✅
- Term sheets & Preferred shares ✅
Arm yourself with knowledge 🚀
We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with
@ProsperAfricaUS
– a US government initiative 'to increase two-way trade' between African nations and the US (1/3)
Are you a startup founder from Africa who got invited to YCombinator? We would love to help you with:
- Interview practice
- Visa needs
- Accommodation needs
- Flight needs
Please send us a DM right away.
''Stears was founded in the library of the London School of Economics, a fitting home for an information company determined to make it easy for anyone, anywhere in the world to access high-quality information on Africa.''
As we embrace the new week with enthusiasm, we wish our General Partner, a gem in the tech ecosystem and an influential leader
@iaboyeji
, a happy birthday 🎉
Join us for this month’s episode of Invest In The Future, with
@mwseibel
, Group Partner
@ycombinator
, and Future Africa General Partner
@iaboyeji
as we learn how to spot and invest in the best startups.
Reserve your space here
2020 was an extraordinary year for Future Africa. We returned $3.7m from $1.2m raised in 2018. In addition, we launched Future Africa Collective and raised an additional $1.2m deployed to 14 startups
Read our CEO,
@iaboyeji
's 2021 Annual Letter
There are only about 6 African unicorns 🦄 - i.e startups privately worth over $1 billion. In the last decade of African tech, only Jumia has gone public via IPO. African unicorns are rare but African startups reaching IPO are even rarer.
We're excited to announce 'Invest in The Future', our live fireside chat series where we learn from prolific angel investors who have invested in and built some of the world's most impactful technology companies
Happy birthday to our founder
@iaboyeji
! You're an inspiration and the entire team is grateful and happy to be working with you on the future of Africa! 🌍 🎉🎊
We started this year on a mission to fund even more African startups at early-stage through Future Africa Collective and Future Africa Fund.
Since January, we've deployed $3m in capital to 13 startups across Africa. Here's who they are and what they do 🧵👇🏾
Join our webinar this Thursday to learn how to build wealth in times of the current economic crisis caused by
#COVID19
. We've teamed up with experts from
@investbamboo
@ChakaStocks
and
@Risevest
to teach this session. Register below 👇
We’re honoured to receive an Excellence in Fintech Investment award at the Africa Fintech Summit yesterday in DC. Thank you to the team
@AfriFintech
for the recognition & our portfolio founder
@teshmbaabu
for receiving the award on our behalf ☀️
Earlier this year, we released a report that sparked meaningful conversations about Africa's future and our role in it. Here's an update on how far we've come this year: we've invested $1.1 million investments in 17 startups from January to April 2022 ☀️
Announcing our investment in Sote. Sote is digitising and automating the clearing and forwarding process in shipping logistics in Africa. It will build the operating system for Africa's shipping logistics
FAVE-YC is back! If you’re an African founder looking to apply and get accepted into the Y Combinator 2022 summer batch, we’re excited to help you through the process, provide resources and networks to support your application. Learn more:
Over 30 African startups have been accepted into YCombinator. Only 1 has had a female CEO. FAVE Women has teamed up with more than 10 YC alumni to help women-led startups with their YC applications. Please APPLY!
We're excited to join Global Ventures and other VCs around the world to back
@nexford
. Nexford University is building the future of higher education and preparing its students for today's world
When we announced Future Africa fund, many observers noticed we had invested in Rise, Bamboo and Chaka. We believe the future of consumer investments in Nigeria is global. Here's why we're backing innovators building global wealth management startups
Applications are open for
@TheDFSLab
’s next bootcamp in collaboration with
@StellarOrg
focused on supporting the
#blockchain
-oriented ideas of African developers and
#startups
! Most innovative solutions are awarded up to 20,000 USDC. Learn more and apply:
Last month, we announced our $1.2 million investments in 15 startups for Q2 2021. Here are some of the highlights from this announcement. Click to read more >
Congrats to portfolio company
@suplias
on its acceptance into YCombinator. Suplias is building a B2B marketplace for mom and pop stores in Africa. Read more here
Calling all African startups! Apply to Accelerate Africa for a chance to receive 1o1 support, join a curated community, and pitch to VCs for investment. Plus, selected cohort startups will receive $75K for 5% equity. Don't wait; Apply by May 19th!
Join our Growth Partner
@binjoadeniran
and
@YeleBademosi
on the next episode of Invest In The Future. They’ll be talking about investing in startups and the future of cryptocurrency on the continent.
Register here >
Last month, we hosted African founders and Silicon Valley investors at Africa Ventures Connect in Palo Alto.
@iaboyeji
, Abbey Wemimo,
@ngozidozie
,
@tijanwatt
,
@oscaradelman
and Erikan Obotetukudo had a 🔥conversation on investing in Africa. Full video >
Behind every existing product solving a crucial problem on the continent, there is a ‘’WHY’’. In this video, the MD & Co-founder of Indicina,
@YTJohnson
, talks about hers. Join us to invest in African startups like Indicina. Learn more >
“Iyinoluwa Aboyeji has been involved in just about every major unicorn to come out of Africa after becoming “hooked on tech” having watched The Social Network.”
We remain committed to deploying resources to help more exceptional founders get accepted into YC. Thank you
@wilfriedeyi
(Toolbox, YC S20) for helping with this YC interview guide ☀️
African founders invited to YC interviews can find the guide here
In our last Clubhouse session, our investment team shared rubrics that guide us as we invest in startups building the future of Africa. We’ve used this guide to invest in 47 companies so far.
Here’s how we make those decisions
In May, we updated you with our fund activity for the year so far. Today, here's a dive into Future Africa's activity for the 2nd Quarter of 2021.
We funded 15 African startups with $1.2 million between April and June this year
How did we get here? The constant decline of the Naira, poor interest rates on savings accounts, and unpredictable government policies.
Nigerians work hard and deserve to preserve their wealth.
This is why we backed Bamboo, Chaka and Rise
In collaboration with a reputable financial institution in the United States, we’re hosting a closed event to discuss the financial technology requirements for African startups with US banking needs.
"Take a problem government should be solving, and build a business around it. It will be a guaranteed money maker"-
@iaboyeji
at
@OurNewAfrica
#NewARC20
Congratulations to Future Africa portfolio company
@stitchmoneyhq
on closing its $2M seed extension round and appointing
@DadaBen_
to lead its Nigerian efforts.
Stitch is on track to facilitate more than $10M in monthly payments via its platform.
Planning your investment strategy for 2022? Join Future Africa to invest in Africa's fastest growing startups. For an annual fee of $1000 or quarterly fee of $300, you get access to invest in mission-driven founders who are are building a new Africa
Thank you, Joburg 🇿🇦 It’s always a delight to connect with our community of investors, founders, and friends! We left feeling super energetic and optimistic about the future, and we look forward to having more prosperous meetups across the globe.
African SMEs need need quick capital to thrive and grow. We joined Ventures Platform, Launch Africa, Sherpa Ventures, Hustle Fund, DFS Lab and Mercy Corps to back Payhippo. Payhippo provides loans to small businesses in Africa in under 3 hours
Are you an African founder applying to YCombinator? We put together a guide to help you succeed. It includes advice from YC Partners like Kat Mañalac and real applications from African YC Alumni like
@paystack
,
@buycoins_africa
and
@HeliumHealth
Read about Future Africa Collective Member and Gumroad founder Sahil Lavingia's thoughts on Investing in African startups. Sahil recently invested in Cowrywise as an angel investor and Sote via the collective
@dadabenblog
This week, Visa invested 200 million dollars in Interswitch for a 20% stake. This deal makes Interswitch a unicorn.
This article by
@chuksmonyei
chronicles the History of Nigeria's fintech ecosystem & provides some insight into how Interswitch began
We're glad once again to invest alongside global investors like
@greycroftvc
, Tiger Global &
@mwseibel
in
@investBamboo
's $15M Series A round.
Bamboo makes it easy for Africans to invest globally.
Next week, we'll be releasing our report on how regulation can shape the future of Africa tech with
@TC_Insights
. This report examines the regulatory environments in six major African startup hubs.
@StearsBusiness
is building a media and data network for Africa to help individuals, development organisations, investors, governments and companies access data they need to make better decisions.
Are you an African startup looking to apply to Y Combinator? You should read the guide we have specially created for you.
We hope this guide helps you apply with confidence and align with YC’s criteria
“Investment syndicates are special funds that pool capital from multiple investors to invest in a company. Think of it as a crowdfunding investment for a startup.”
Applying to
@ycombinator
? We've published a guide for African tech founders.
It includes common misconceptions, questions and sample answers from African YC Alumni, video tips and template, advice from a YC partner and other resources
We're honoured to join
@AccionVLab
,
@VenturesP1
,
@AcuityVentures
, AAIC & Consonance to back Lami in its $1.8M seed round. Jihan Abbas and the Lami team are building the future of Insurance in Africa
Join our Principal
@AdenikeRaks
and
@OdunEweniyi
on the next episode of Invest In The Future. Odun will talk seeing opportunities to build Piggyvest and PushCV, investing as an angel, and funding women entrepreneurs via
@FirstCheckHQ
In collaboration with
@NairobiGarage
, we’re hosting our next founder focused event in Nairobi, Kenya, next Monday! Join us for a panel discussion with
@teshmbaabu
, Jihan Abass &
@iaboyeji
. Followed by a networking session with our teams.
Register:
If you are a founder building a startup focusing on any of the UN 17 SDGs, Google has an exciting program that you can benefit from. Startups accepted into the program will be granted equity-free support from Google. Visit to learn more and apply
Read about our work to bridge the seed-stage funding gap in Africa with our syndicate, the Future Africa Collective. We welcome all efforts across board to support African innovators
We're honoured to join Beta Ventures, Launch Africa and Chinook Capital to back
@EdvesSuite
in its $575K seed round.
EdVes is bringing learning management in African schools online.
Future Africa welcomes Dimeji, Dare and the Edves team
The wait is over! Episode 6 of Invest In The Future podcast with our founder
@iaboyeji
&
@mwseibel
, Group Partner at Y Combinator, is now available wherever you listen to podcasts. Listen here:
For women’s month, we’ll be hosting a special episode of our live podcast series, Invest In The Future.
Join
@dammeefash
@SachaHaider
@ciiwueke
, Nina Chen and Harriet Adinkrah to discuss the future. Register here >>
“The challenges are always and forever the opportunities.” -
@iaboyeji
Listen to our General Partner's conversation with Michael Redd on Betting On Yourself podcast:
Want to invest in African startups? Join 400 investors in the Future Africa Collective who have invested $3.3 million in 16 startups. For $1000 annually or $300 quarterly, you get access to invest in the fastest-growing startups in Africa
Learn more here
We are delighted to have the Afropreneur & Founding Partner of
@LoftyIncCap
,
@idrisayobello
, talk about his journey to investing and the future of angel investing in Africa on the next episode of Invest In The Future☀️
Register here