Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures Raises USD 43 M For Pan-African Venture Fund

Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) has raised USD 43 M for its pan-African venture fund, which invests in scalable, tech-enabled, post-revenue startups addressing difficult challenges on the continent. The funding came from big backers including SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), and individual investors such as Osamu Kaneda.

The VKAV Fund is its first investment vehicle, and will leverage the accumulated knowledge and skills of the two companies to invest in startups across Africa, focusing on early-stage companies that are working to solve social challenges in the region.