Founders Factory Africa, a pan-African early stage investor based in South Africa, has announced a breakthrough in raising $144 million in funding.
In a statement on Monday, August 14, Founders Factory announced that the funds will help in the mission to scale its model to reach more founders in Africa.
Moreover, the firm raised the funds in partnership with Mastercard Foundation and Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures which is a subsidiary of the Johnson and Johnson Foundation.
In addition, the statement noted that the funding was a follow on from the previous investment by Standard Bank, Small Foundation and Netcar into the venture capital fund.
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Commenting on the milestone, Alina Truhina, one of the founders of Founders Factory Africa, expressed his excitement and reiterated the significance of the new funding.
On his part, Founders Factory’s CEO- Bongani Sithole welcomed the support from Mastercard Foundation and Johnson and Johnson and urged more investors to come on board in efforts to support venture-building.
“Moving Africa forward requires more of us to support tech-driven, solution-oriented ventures that have the potential to scale and make an impact at speed,” the CEO stated.
“Our role as Founders Factory Africa is to provide founders with the funding, knowledge, and hands-on venture-building support they need to achieve commercial success and create outsized, systemic impact.”
New Hybrid Support Model
Founders Factory is looking to effect a raft of changes in line with the commitment to realizing a hybrid model that combines capital and operational support for startups in the African ecosystem.
Among the changes to be effected include ending the investor’s specialization in specific sectors and doubling in on addressing gender imbalance in the startup ecosystem.
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In addition, the reforms will aim at strengthening Founders Factory Africa’s internal capacity to continue providing its portfolio of start-ups with the best venture-building support on the continent.
So far, the venture fund has a portfolio of over 55 ventures across 11 countries in East, West, North, and Southern Africa with notable startups including Zuri Health and Lipa Later.