FirstCheck Africa adds $2m commitment from TLcom to its $10m debut fund
TLcom Capital, a prominent Africa-focused seed to series B venture capital firm, has committed $2 million to FirstCheck Africa. Eloho Omame, one of FirstCheck Africa’s founders, has also joined TLcom Capital as a partner, adding to her existing day-to-day role as co-managing partner at FirstCheck Africa.
This move allows FirstCheck Africa to support more female-led startups by giving it access to additional capital. Including its $10 million debut fund, FirstCheck Africa will be investing $12 million as a single pool of capital against its strategy of backing high-growth, technology-driven startups with at least one female founder or co-founder.
FirstCheck Africa will now invest up to $250,000 as high conviction first cheques into early-stage rounds for female-led start-ups. FirstCheck Africa remains sector-agnostic and focused on technology-enabled companies that are solving important problems in large markets. FirstCheck Africa’s strategy is to invest in female-led companies with category-leadership potential.
In January 2021, Eloho Omame and Odun Eweniyi launched FirstCheck Africa as an angel fund to address capital access for female tech entrepreneurs in Africa. According to FirstCheck Africa, what started as personal commitments to invest up to $25,000 each in six female-led companies has evolved into an institutional fund with millions of dollars under management. In the last 18 months, FirstCheck Africa has invested in 10 female-led startups in four countries.