By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The financing challenges threatening the existence of start-ups across West Africa may soon be over if the latest information reaching us is anything to believe.
Constant Ventures, a part of the Constant Group, is planning to pool together a $100 million venture capital fund to invest across a range of technology start-ups in the region.
Constant Ventures has a successful track record as an angel investor and a respected developer of technology businesses. To date, it has invested $3.2 million in nine Nigerian start-ups, including Gokada, Halo, Appzone, Heala, Tingtel, CreditClan, Omnibiz, Sabiroad and FIG, with a return of 5.6x, which is projected to return 15x after the next funding round.
For the $100 million venture capital fund, Constant Ventures wants investee start-ups with a focus on financial inclusion, education and healthcare in Nigeria and Ghana. It plans to later invest in companies in other parts of West Africa.
“We are very excited to be announcing this fund today. It has been a decade in the making, the result of deep-dive research and due diligence in anticipation of this moment when we knew that advances in information technology would enable start-ups across West Africa to commercially address real societal needs,” the Chairman of the Constant Group and co-founder and Managing Partner of Constant Ventures, Mr Ike Echeruo, said.
“Technology was always going to provide the answer to so many of the critical issues faced by millions of people across Africa today. We are now on the cusp of a paradigm shift with recent advances across information technology presenting a unique investment window.
“We have looked at what has worked in other geographies. Now, refined and optimised for Africa, we have modelled a fund to invest in businesses that will both improve the lives of millions of people and deliver outstanding returns for investors,” he added.
Recent advances in digital information technology provide an opportunity to both build and scale solutions to everyday challenges faced by millions of Africans – in particular, the aggregation of fragmented value chains, the formalisation of large sectors of the continent’s economy and the provision of much-needed access to financial services for both consumers and businesses.
The Constant Ventures fund has a unique structure that enables investment either directly in talented entrepreneurs and compelling start-ups across West Africa or through its proprietary venture studio, which serves as a catalyst to combine best-in-class entrepreneurs, ideas and capital to quickly build winning start-ups.
