Botswana Tech Fund 1 reaches first close
The multi-stage venture capital fund investing in technology companies across Southern Africa, has reached a $6.7 million first close.
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Botswana Tech Fund 1, a multi-stage venture capital fund investing in technology companies across Southern Africa, has reached a $6.7 million first close.
Venture capital firm Launch Africa Ventures has been appointed as the investment advisor for phase one of the Botswana Tech Fund. The appointment forms part of Launch Africa Ventures’ managed accounts strategy, advising on third-party investment mandates.
The fund is anchored by Pula Investments, the Guernsey-based family office of Stephen Lansdown, co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown. The fund’s leadership team includes managing partner Martin Davis, former chief executive officer of FTSE 250-listed Molten Ventures, and general partner Florence Bavanandan, head of platform and operations at Launch Africa Ventures.
Combining an accelerator-led pre-seed strategy with a primary and secondary growth programme, the fund targets the digitisation of the region’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) economy.
“Now the work begins. There is a significant opportunity to help close the digital gap between our target markets and more established technology ecosystems such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. We look forward to backing ambitious founders who are building solutions capable of driving that change,” Botswana Tech Fund said in a statement.
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