By Adedapo Adesanya
Norrsken22, an Africa-focused venture capital firm, has received the backing of more than 30 unicorn founders and institutions to raise $205 million for new tech investments in Africa.
Investments will largely be focused on startups in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Egypt.
This is coming at a time when funding into startups has slowed due to macro conditions.
The fund, dubbed the Norrsken22 African Tech Growth Fund, was supported by local and foreign unicorn founders, including Mr Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave; Mr Niklas Zennström, co-founder Skype; Mr Jacob de Geer, co-founder iZettle; Mr Niklas Östberg, co-founder Delivery Hero; Mr Carl Manneh, co-founder Mojang; Mr Sebastian Knutsson, co-founder King; and Mr Willard Ahdritz, founder Kobalt Music.
The fund was also backed by SEB Pension Foundation and family offices and will focus on growth-stage entrepreneurs developing fintech, edtech, and healthtech across Africa.
With a ticket size of about $10 million to $16 million, Norrsken22 plans to invest in 20 startups on the continent.
“There are huge opportunities in Africa. We are excited to continue our mission of driving funding into African tech, and creating jobs and sustainable growth in the region,” Mr Niklas Adalberth, Founder of Norrsken Foundation, said.
“The timing of the fund ideally positions Norrsken22 to support a growing African tech tailwind,” says Ms Natalie Kolbe, Managing Partner of Norrsken22.
“The transformative power of technology can leapfrog traditional ways of doing business, and Africa has the opportunity to lead the World with its solutions.”
“We are excited to be partnering with so many promising startups that can have a positive impact across Africa. We are delighted to see an active and growing early-stage investor community growing across the continent, however, we still see a gap at growth stage tech funding in the continent,” she said.
Norrsken22 has already made five investments. The portfolio includes South African challenger bank Tyme Bank, African business-to-business digital commerce platform Sabi, Africa’s leading identity verification solution, Smile ID and auto financing platform Autochek.
