The investment vehicle will focus primarily on fintech, healthtech, and edtech startups. In its initial stage, it will make direct and indirect equity commitments in startups in Nigeria and Ghana. 

VC fund Constant Ventures announced, Monday (May 30), a US$100 venture capital fund for investment in West African tech startups.  The new investment vehicle will initially focus on startups specializing in financial inclusion, education, and health, primarily in Nigeria and Ghana. 

“We are very excited to be announcing this fund today. It has been a decade in the making, the result of deep-dive research and due diligence in anticipation of this moment when we knew that advances in information technology would enable start-ups across West Africa to commercially address real societal needs,” indicated Ike Echeruo, co-founder and Managing Partner of Constant Ventures.

 “We have looked at what has worked in other geographies. Now, refined and optimized for Africa, we have modeled a fund to invest in businesses that will both improve the lives of millions of people and deliver outstanding returns for investors,” he added.

Recent progress in the tech and the digital sectors offer an opportunity to develop and scale solutions that address the everyday challenges faced by most Africans. Constant Ventures intends to support West African startups are addressing those challenges with direct or indirect equity participation. 

In its release announcing the new investment vehicle, Constant Ventures indicates that it targets a return on investment (ROI) of 5 to 10 times the capital invested. However, the amounts that will be committed to each startup were not stated, nor were the number of beneficiaries.

 To date, Constant Ventures claims to have invested US$3.2 million in 9 startups in Nigeria. Its choice of West Africa as the beneficiary region is not fortuitous.  In 2021, the region attracted the highest volume of venture capital deals in Africa. It was also the second region with the highest share of VC deals by value, according to the Venture Capital in Africa Report published in April 2022, by the African private equity and venture capital association (AVCA). 

Chamberline MOKO