Botswana Tech Fund reaches USD 6.7 M First Close To Back Southern African Startups

The Botswana Tech Fund (BTF) has reached a first close of GBP 5 M (USD 6.7 M) toward its GBP 50 M target to back early-stage technology startups in Botswana and Southern Africa.

Domiciled in Guernsey, the fund is anchored by Pula Investments, the family office of British billionaire Stephen Lansdown, while Launch Africa Ventures serves as investment adviser.

The fund is led by Martin Davis, former CEO of Molten Ventures, and Florence Bavanandan, head of platform and operations at Launch Africa. BTF will invest GBP 25 K to GBP 100 K in pre-seed startups through an accelerator programme and GBP 500 K to GBP M in seed to Series C companies. It also partners with the Botswana Innovation Hub to support portfolio companies.