Nigerian VC firm LoftyInc announces first close of $10m fund
LoftyInc Capital, a pan-African VC firm, announced today that it is launching its third fund — LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 — at $10 million for tech startups in Africa.
The firm has reached the first close of $5.5 million. Some of the limited partners in the vehicle include those from its second fund, FBNQuest Funds, syndicates from The Green Investment Club, HNIs from multinationals like Google, Facebook and ExxonMobil; and Andela CEO Jeremy Johnson, among others.
So far, LoftyInc has written checks to more than 20 startups since it began raising money for the fund. They cut across various industries like e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, logistics and media in different regions within and outside Africa.
In Francophone Africa, the company has invested in Afrikrea and Star News Mobile. Then in Omnibiz, RXAll, Sudo Africa, Tech Advance, Aladdin, Flex Finance, Star Kitchens Group and EPump across West Africa.
For LoftyInc’s portfolio in North Africa, there’s Odiggo, Illa, Tagaddod and Instadiet. Akiba Digital, Beamm and Zazu Africa make up LoftyInc’s portfolio in South Africa, while Cashback and Dash are the startups funded in East Africa. LoftyInc also has diasporic interests in OjaExpress and FitMatch.
LoftyInc runs three funds simultaneously. The second fund, which is its first formal VC fund, is largely focused on Nigeria. On the other hand, this third fund follows the thesis of LoftyInc’s first fund: investing in startups across different markets and sectors in Africa and the diaspora.
The fund says it wants to take big bets on markets outside the Big Four — Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt.
