The news:
- Partech, a global VC, has raised $263 million in the first close of its Partech Africa Fund II.
- This is one of the three funds the VC has launched in the last two years.
- It intends the fund more than 20 startups across Africa.
Limited partners (LPs) of Partech Africa's Fund II include the German Development Bank, anchor investor KfW, and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
General Partners of Partech, Tidjane Deme and Cyril Collon told TechCrunch that the firm intended to raise $250 million in total for Fund II, and reach a first close of $160 million. However, immense interest from LPs made it raise its total in the first close.
The firm now plans to raise $300 million on its final close.
According to Partech, it is responsible for more than 10% of investments entering Africa between 2021 and 2022.
The strategy of Fund II is to back startups going after Africa's informal and developing sectors such as retail, insurance fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), and health tech. Partech Africa Fund II believes that tech sectors can create a lot of value because these sectors have a lot of inefficiencies.
It plans to back Series A and B companies in fintech, mobility, health tech and logistics. The capital raised for Fund II will be invested in more than 20 startups in Africa.
