Alexander O. Onukwue
15th April 2021 Rena Yoneyama (managing partner, Samurai Incubate Africa), Nao Koike (manager, Samurai Incubate Africa), Kentaro Sakakibara (Founder & CEO, Samurai Incubate). Source: Samurai Incubate
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As success stories from Africaâs startup scene spread across the world, more diverse sources of funding are opening up to the continent. While investors from Western economies lead the flock of international interest parties, money bags in Asia are building momentum to invest in high-impact businesses in Africa.
Japanese firms have been notably active in recent years. One of those firms is Samurai Incubate Inc, a venture capital firm based in Tokyo. The company has announced the close of its dedicated Africa fund after raising 2.06 billion yen (~ $18 million).
Japanese VC Samurai Incubate closes $18.6M fund for African startups
Samurai Incubate, a Tokyo-based venture capital firm, announced today it has closed its “Samurai Africa 2nd General Partnership” fund, totalling 2.026 billion yen (~$18.6 million).
According to the firm, the fund was oversubscribed as it targeted 2 billion (~$18.4 million) and a total of 54 investors joined as LPs. One notable LP is the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, which has a diverse network across the continent. The firm founded Mobility 54, a corporate venture capital (CVC) looking to invest $45 million into African mobility, logistics, and fintech startups.
Kentaro Sakakibara founded Samurai Incubate, and in 2018, the firm began investing in Africa by establishing a subsidiary called Leapfrog Ventures. From August 2018, Samurai Incubate invested $2.5 million in 20 African startups via the newly established firm. Then in June 2019, renamed itself Samurai Incubate Africa.
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Japanese VCs are at the forefront of the startup investment scene in Africa, perhaps the only continent with majority of its potential for innovation untapped.
The Japanese venture capital firm Uncovered Fund recently launched a $15 million kitty to support the African startups. Takuma Terakubo, the head of Uncovered Fund announced his new investment of $15 million to provide financial support to the startups in stages between seed and Series A. The Uncovered Fund, established in the year 2019, has invested $3.5 million between 2019 and 2020 to support several budding startups. For its next lot of investments, the company plans to invest between $50,000 and $500,000 into several South African, Nigerian, and Kenyan companies working on fintech, retail, logistics, health, agritech, mobility, and smart cities sectors.
Savannah Fund launches $25M fund to invest in African startups at seed and Series A
Savannah Fund, a pan-African venture capital firm, today announced a $25 million fund as it looks to back more early-stage startups on the continent.
Since launching in 2012, Savannah Fund led by Mbwana Alliy and Paul Bragiel has backed more than 30 startups. Some of its well-known investments include South African car subscription company, FlexClub; Kenyan on-demand logistics company, Sendy; and Nigerian fintech company, Lidya.
Before becoming a VC firm, Savannah Fund started as an accelerator program in Kenya. Startups that got accepted participated in cohorts for three months and received up to $30,000 in funding. However, in 2016, Savannah transitioned into venture capital investing, focusing on seed and Series A stages with $25,000 to $500,000 checks.