Investment Stages: Pre-Seed, Seed, and leading/catalysing Series A rounds
Priority Sectors: Fintech, Healthtech, Agritech, Edtech, AI, and Essential Infrastructure
Geographic Reach: Africa
In a major boost for the continent’s technology ecosystem, Ventures Platform has announced the $64 million first close of its second flagship vehicle, the VP Pan-African Fund II (PAF II). Targeting a final close of $75 million, the fund is set to accelerate Africa’s next tech wave by expanding seed investments, leading Series A rounds, and scaling operations into key regional markets.Demonstrating deep investor confidence, 70% of Limited Partners (LPs) from the firm’s first institutional fund returned for PAF II. The fund attracted backing from a diverse syndicate of global development finance institutions, commercial banks, and prominent angel investors, including tech veteran Michael Seibel and European family offices like Alder Tree Investment.
How Fund II Will Catalyse Series A Growth Across Africa
Historically known as one of Africa’s premier seed-stage investors, Ventures Platform is evolving its deployment strategy. While maintaining its foundation in pre-seed and seed financing, PAF II will actively lead and catalyse Series A rounds—providing critical follow-on capital to de-risk high-growth startups as they scale.
Geographically, the fund is doubling down on its core portfolio in Nigeria while consolidating presence in Francophone Africa and expanding into North Africa. Investment efforts will focus on founders building essential “painkiller” solutions—products that address severe infrastructure bottlenecks and tap into non-consumption across Fintech, Healthtech, Agritech, Edtech, and Artificial Intelligence.
Commenting on the milestone, Kola Aina, Founding Partner at Ventures Platform, emphasized the strategic vision behind the fund:
“The backing we’ve received from a diverse group of blue-chip partners is a powerful endorsement of Africa’s place as the purest source for transformative impact. Realising the continent’s full innovation potential demands smart contextual capital, post-investment value creation, and a commitment to de-risking market-creating solutions. With VP PAF II, we are broadening our reach to empower founders who are solving chronic non-consumption and building for the next billion.”
Backing by Institutional Heavyweights: iDICE, IFC, and Global LPs Join the Mission
A standout highlight of Fund II is the maiden institutional participation from Nigeria’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) program, implemented via the Bank of Industry (BOI). This sovereign-backed backing underscores a national effort to position Nigeria as a global hub for technological innovation.
Dr. Olasupo Olusi, MD/CEO of the Bank of Industry, noted: “By investing in Ventures Platform’s Fund II as iDICE’s Technology Equity Fund, we are advancing the Federal Government’s goal of upscaling the Nigerian tech and creative sectors. This strategic capital deployment will create jobs at scale and empower high-growth entrepreneurs across the country.”
Farid Fezoua, IFC Global Director for Disruptive Technologies, added that channeling venture capital into Africa’s ecosystem helps early-stage startups move smoothly from proof-of-concept to sustainable commercial scale, fortifying local supply chains in the process.
From Early Seed Capital to Africa’s Next Unicorns
Since launching in 2016, Ventures Platform has backed over 90 startups across multiple verticals, establishing an industry-leading graduation rate from Seed to Series A and beyond. Four out of its six investment vintages have already returned capital to investors.
The firm’s portfolio features some of the continent’s most recognized scale-ups, including Moniepoint (Africa’s recent unicorn), LemFi, Remedial Health, Raenest, and SeamlessHR. Portfolio companies like OmniRetail, Thrive Agric, and Moniepoint have earned international acclaim on the Financial Times list of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, while Piggyvest and Remedial Health have been featured on global leaderboards by CNBC and TIME Magazine.
With the $64 million first close of PAF II secured, Ventures Platform is positioned to further catalyze sustainable economic evolution, solidify Africa’s role in global tech innovation, and democratize prosperity across the continent.
