Ascent announces first close of Ascent Rift Valley Fund II
African private equity fund manager Ascent today announced the first rolling close of its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II (ARVF II) at more than $100 million, exceeding its initial target of $80 million. The final close of ARVF II, with a target of $120 million, is expected in December 2021.
ARVF II will invest equity in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern Africa, looking to take large minority or majority stakes. The fund will provide funding to scalable SME businesses, helping to drive wider business and industrial development, particularly targeting the financial services, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and services, education, healthcare, and agro-processing sectors. ARVF II seeks to invest in growing companies with the courage and ambition to become best-in-class, thereby creating a league of “regional enterprise champions” in East Africa. ARVF II has already made its first investment into financial services in January 2021.
Investors in ARVF II include BIO, CDC Group, FMO, IFC, Norfund, Proparco, SDG Frontier Fund, impact investors and major Kenyan pension funds.
“We are proud to have raised this additional capital from prominent investors to invest in Africa’s most promising companies,” said David Owino, founding partner of Ascent. “We are now well positioned to become the leading SME fund manager in East Africa, empowering ambitious entrepreneurs with capital and knowledge from our local advisory teams.”
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