Boost For Partech Africa Fund As It Receives Investment From L’Oreal
In a move that is expected to fuel further partnerships with startups and entrepreneurs who are known to be making significant strides in the area of developing innovative products and services that are tailored to meet the needs of people in remote and less accessible places, global beauty giant, L’Oreal has thrown some financial weight behind Partech Africa Fund.
Launched early this year, Partech Africa Fund is an investment fund within Partech Ventures itself, and it has its focus centered on facilitating the development and growth of tech projects across various parts of Africa. The undisclosed amount of investment from L’Oreal into Partech Africa Fund is expected to go some way towards helping the former partner with more startups and entrepreneurs whose innovations have the needs of consumers in less formal environments at heart.
The latest investment from L’Oreal appears to be taking a cue from similar previous capital infusions from the beauty company into a number of other VC funds, including Raise Investissement, Partech International Ventures, and Founders Factory.
With regard to the development, Alexandre Popoff, L’Oreal Vice-President for Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, reiterated the company’s resolve to bolster and support innovative enterprises that are doing their bit to impact the lives of people in less formal markets by inventing new technologies in all spheres, as well as drive distribution and consumption in these areas.
He also expressed delight at the prospect of working in tandem with Partech Africa to bring home the common goal of fostering the development green African businesses, while hinting at the intention of L’Oreal to be at the forefront of the mission to support African enterprises that are in their infancy.
As was earlier mentioned, Partech Africa Fund was launched by Partech Ventures early this year and the fund is focused on supporting African early-stage startups with growth funding. Partech Africa Fund is believed to target emerging African enterprises that are found to hold significant promise in such areas as eCommerce, fintech, new distribution models, education, insurtech, digital services, entertainment, supply-chain services, mobility, as well as the digitalization of the informal economy.
Amongst other players in the Partech Africa investment machinery are major financial institutions led by the IFC; a member of the World Bank Group, as well as Averroes Finance III and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The move by the global beauty giant, as is evident in its commitment to funding Partech Africa, might be suggestive of its intention to explore the potential of the beauty industry in Africa in the near future.
