The 5 most popular stories on Africa Private Equity News this week
Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories this week on Africa Private Equity News.
1. Hlayisani Capital backs South African outdoor media company
Private equity and venture capital firm Hlayisani Capital has acquired a minority stake in Tractor Media Holdings, one of South Africa’s leading digital outdoor media owners. These funds will be channelled towards the acceleration of Tractor’s aggressive digital out of home (DOOH) growth strategy, allowing for the acquisition of key sites, new portfolios as well as investment in advanced and cutting-edge technologies.
2. Flourish Ventures launches Africa-focused pre-seed investment platform
Flourish Ventures, a global venture capital firm investing in fintech entrepreneurs, announced the launch of affiliate Madica, a structured investment programme for pre-seed stage technology companies in Africa. The new sector-agnostic programme will invest capital in tech start-ups and offer founders tailored mentorship and company-building support. Over the next three years, Madica, seeks to back 25-30 African entrepreneurs with up to $200,000 each.
The new investment programme aims to address systemic challenges faced by early-stage founders in Africa, such as limited access to capital, industry networks, mentorship, and structured training. A central element of the programme will be a carefully curated panel of seasoned African operators who will mentor Madica founders. Based on the belief that strong mentorship is a central feature of the most vibrant startup ecosystems, Madica will provide this mentor community with rewards tied to company success. To further cultivate this sense of community, Madica intends to share a part of its financial returns with the broader ecosystem. In pioneering some of these unique features in an investment programme, Madica hopes to promote a vibrant and more equitable funding environment on the continent.
3. IFC proposes investment in TPG-backed Kenyan hospital group
The IFC has disclosed a proposed $11.7 million A-loan to Kenyan hospital group Avenue. The investment will be used to scale up its secondary and tertiary care offering through enhancements to its diagnostic capacity, expansion of its clinic network, the construction of a new hospital wing at Parklands, Nairobi, and to refinance its existing short and long-term debt.
Avenue is wholly owned by the Evercare Health Fund, a private equity vehicle managed by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) whose investors include TPG Rise Fund, IFC, BII, DFC, Philips, Medtronic, and the Gates Foundation. Evercare operates an integrated healthcare delivery platform in emerging markets across South Asia and Africa.
4. Serena Williams VC fund leads investment in Ugandan fintech company
Numida, the Uganda-based fintech company, announced a $12.3 million pre-series A financing round.
Serena Ventures led the $7.3 million equity portion of the round with participation from Breega, 4Di Capital, Launch Africa, Soma Capital, and Y Combinator, which are all making their first Ugandan investment, and existing investor MFS Africa, which is following on. The round will be completed with $5 million in debt from Lendable Asset Management. With this new financing, Numida will reinforce its Ugandan presence and launch in two new African markets.
5. British International Investment launches new name in South Africa
British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, launched its new name at a business reception in Johannesburg and reaffirmed its commitment to invest to accelerate South Africa’s economic dynamism. BII will deploy its patient long-term capital toward scaling climate finance and expanding the country’s clean energy capacity, increasing investments into economic transforming sectors, and backing productive and inclusive opportunities across the country.
In 2021, BII’s portfolio in South Africa was valued at over $142 million. Having significantly scaled its investments into clean energy infrastructure in 2022, the DFI’s commitment today now stands at over $520 million.
The DFI has an office in Johannesburg, which is led by Thithi-Kuhlase-Maseko.