Africa-Press – Gambia. The U.S. venture Accion Ventures capital arm of a global nonprofit has secured $61.6 million — nearly double the size of its pilot fund — to support dozens of startups delivering financial services across Africa, at a time when Silicon Valley’s interest in African ventures has waned.
, headquartered in Washington and previously known as Accion Venture Lab, announced the final close of its new fund at $61.6 million. The investor pool includes Dutch bank FMO, France’s development agency Proparco, and the Ford Foundation, alongside U.S. financial heavyweights Mastercard and MetLife.
The firm had earlier raised a $33 million fund in 2019, which it fully deployed, and recently recorded three successful exits in Africa. With the new fund, Accion plans to invest up to $1 million per startup in early-stage fintech companies, co-managing partner Amee Parbhoo told Semafor.
Parbhoo noted that despite global fundraising challenges in a post-zero interest rate environment, the firm is seeing “probably the strongest founders” emerge in its focus markets. Before reaching the final close last month, Accion had already made investments from the new fund, including Nigerian payroll management startup PaidHR in June and Kenyan e-commerce platform Flowcart (formerly Sukhiba) last year.
During a due diligence trip to Nigeria in August, Parbhoo and her team met with customers of one of their latest portfolio companies. She highlighted that entrepreneurs who endured the market volatility of the past six years are now building “something new in fintech,” which she described as highly encouraging.
So far this year, only a handful of funds targeting African startups have been launched. These include a $55 million climate tech fund by Kenya- and UK-based Equator, a $43 million first close for Nigerian firm LoftyInc’s third fund, and a $300 million fund by Endeavor Catalyst. At the same time, larger funds already in play — such as Partech Africa’s $300 million and Norrsken22’s $205 million vehicles — continue to deploy capital into the continent’s ventures.
African startup funding in 2023 is on track to fall short of the 2022 peak of nearly $5 billion. Still, activity between January and June showed signs of recovery, suggesting this year could surpass the 2022 low of $2.2 billion, according to Africa: The Big Deal, a deal-tracking platform.
Accion’s ability to generate cash returns from prior exits has strengthened its case to limited partners for expanding investment in Africa. Its recent divestments include Kenyan farm financing and insurance startup Apollo Agriculture, South African SME lender Lula, and another Kenyan agricultural insurance firm, Pula.
Parbhoo emphasized that investor discipline has improved across the continent, with valuations now more aligned with global benchmarks compared to the overheated environment of 2020–2021. She noted that fundraising dynamics have shifted, giving investors greater leverage in negotiations.
Reflecting on Accion’s investment in his company, Seye Bandele, co-founder and CEO of PaidHR, described the process as “the most inclusive, transparent” he had ever experienced. “It helps that these guys have seen 30, 40 companies like yours and they’ve seen some winners. So they know some things you may be trying to start that are already mistakes,” Bandele told Semafor.
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