Savannah Fund launches $25M fund to invest in African startups at seed and Series A
Summary
We think if you can show that you already have investments youve made with your own money, its easier to raise from institutional investors, and I think were on that path.These seven startups cut across the firms focus areas, including fintech, edtech, logistics and e-commerce, SaaS, health tech and agritech. Follow up rounds that will likely involve larger amounts will depend on the firms position as a lead investor or not.In 2020, Savannah Funds portfolio raised $118 million across Series A, B and C, with some operating in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. With this new fund, Alliy said the firm is looking to perform better this year and increase its portfolio from 30 to 50 in the foreseeable future.The firm also acknowledges the role its backer WeFi will be playing in increasing these numbers, especially those led by female founders.Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs), especially female founders, are a key part of our investment strategy as we have seen with the success of Moringa School, Safigen and Sendy all 3 of which have women founders/CEOs who previously worked with Savannah as EIRs, Associates & Interns. Even during a pandemic, we held 3 internships in 2020, some virtual and some in-person in Kenya and Tanzania, the statement read.Lead investor IFC confirmed the news with TechCrunch. Erik Hersman, the co-founder of multiple companies in Kenya, including BRCK, Ushahidi, iHub Nairobi and Savannah Fund, moves to a senior advisory role while running BRCK full time.Bragiel, the firms general partner with investments in multibillion-dollar companies like Unity, Niantic (Pok\xe9mon GO) and Zappos, continues to run the fund with Alliy.