Founders Factory Africa (FFA), a startup accelerator and incubator focused on supporting and scaling African tech startups, has secured $114 million in funding to scale its model across the African tech ecosystem.
The funding saw participation from Mastercard Foundation and Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, an impact fund with the Johnson $ Johnson Foundation follows on from previous investments into Founders Factory Africa by Standard Bank, Small Foundation and Netcare.
CEO of Founders Factory Africa, Bongani Sithole said that the firm is determined to achieve its goals of developing the tech ecosystem by supporting tech-driven solutions. He added that the company will continue to provide the founders it invests in with the necessary tools for success.
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“Moving Africa forward requires more of us to support tech-driven, solution-oriented ventures that have the potential to scale and make an impact at speed. Our role as Founders Factory Africa is to provide founders with the funding, knowledge and hands-on venture-building support they need to achieve commercial success and create outsized, systemic impact,” he said
Also speaking on the funds raised, Chief Portfolio officer of Founders Factory Africa, Sam Sturm said,
“Our new fund will allow us to continue supporting the continent’s most promising early-stage ventures and their exceptional fourders with the capital and resources they need to fuel their growth”.
With this funding, Founders Factory Africa intends to double down on its investment model to reach more African tech startups.
The startup accelerator said it will be broadening its capital investment offering to include non-dilutive capital, supporting the continent’s need for different capital deployment types across the venture maturity curve, and strengthening Founders Factory Africa’s internal capacity to continue to provide its portfolio of start-ups with the best venture-building support on the continent.
The additional funding affirms Founders Factory Africa’s hybrid investment model of combining capital and operational support and will help the early-stage investor further iterate this model by:
•Becoming sector-agnostic in its investment with founders who prioritise business fundamentals, and will also double down on addressing the gender imbalance in the ecosystem.
•Broadening its capital investment offering to include non-dilutive capital, supporting the continent’s need for different capital deployment types across the venture maturity curve.
•Strengthening Founders Factory Africa’s internal capacity to continue to provide its portfolio of start-ups with the best venture-building support on the continent.
Since its inception in 2018, Founders Factory Africa has invested in over 55 tech start-ups across 11 countries in East, West, North, and Southern Africa.
The portfolio covers fintech and healthtech companies and includes Asaak, an asset financing startup for boda boda drivers in East Africa; Envisionit, Deep Al, a South African medical technology company using Al to transform medical imaging diagnosis; Fresh Source, an Egyptian food tech startup.
The startup focuses on supporting and scaling startups across various sectors in Africa. It provides funding, resources, mentorship, and access to a network of experts to help startups grow and succeed.
Founders Factory Africa invests up to $250,000 in ventures at idea, pre-Seed and Seed stage. It looks out for ventures that are solving real problems and have the potential for massive scale.
It also offers bespoke hands-on venture support by Partnering with startups to grow their venture. Founders’ Studio team of in-market venture-building specialists works hand-in-hand with every venture in our portfolio to solve their most critical challenges.
With experts in product, growth, design, talent, tech, strategic partnerships, and investment, the Studio team is well-positioned to help founders address a wide variety of challenges
A look at the growing portfolio of Founders Factory Africa reflects the diverse nature of its Pan-African startup ecosystem in leadership, location, and solutions. It also shares a desire to actively create a radically positive future for the continent.