Venture capital firm, Future Africa, has pumped over $3 million into 13 African startups, this year. The firm's Chief Executive Officer, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji also committed to investing at least $1 million in female founders. The diversity of their portfolio has also improved to include startups from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. Seeing as some of the startups funded had not yet announced their raises, their names were withheld.
However, 4 of the 13 startups were named: Termii, an Internet marketing startup that enables businesses to analyse and optimise communication across email, SMS, voice, and WhatsApp; Lami, an insurtech startup; Ongair, a customer service platform for businesses; and Stitch, an API fintech startup. Future Africa was launched in January 2020 to provide funding, coaching, and support for early-stage African startups. This came following Aboyeji’s experiences raising funds for Andela and Flutterwave.
Future Africa runs a model that lets individuals invest a minimum of $5,000 yearly with an annual subscription fee of $1,000, while Limited Partners can invest up to $25,000 per quarter. Although African startups have seen more funding in recent years, most of it still comes from investors outside the continent who typically cut larger cheques than local investors. As such, the activities of local investors like Future Africa are a welcome development.