•Last year, it received an additional $114 million (Sh14.75 billion) in funding from Mastercard Foundation and Johnson & Johnson to expand its support for founders in the African tech ecosystem.
•54 Collective helps founders navigate complex challenges to achieve commercial success and make an impact on the continent through economic growth and job creation.
Image: HANDOUT
Venture capital firm Founders Factory Africa (FFA) has rebranded to 54 Collective, in its push to expand operations across the continent.
Founders Factory, which originally launched in London in 2015, launched African operations in 2018.
The company brought its model to Africa in partnership with Standard Bank, and subsequently secured backing from Netcare to provide a platform for entrepreneurs to build and scale e-health startups across Africa and Small Foundation to invest in agri-tech.
Last year, it received an additional $114 million (Sh14.75 billion) in funding from Mastercard Foundation and Johnson & Johnson to expand its support for founders in the African tech ecosystem.
The firm’s CEO Bongani Sithole says its new name embodies its ambitious pan-African vision, aiming to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses across all 54 African countries.
“Our catalytic capital and value-add support to founders, through our Venture Success Platform, signifies our evolution and ongoing mission to support entrepreneurs across Africa and enable them to build without boundaries to drive commercial and impact returns,” said Sithole.
54 Collective's investment strategy includes both equity and non-dilutive capital, offering up to $500,000 to help startups scale across the continent. Female founders receive an additional $150,000 in non-dilutive capital, addressing gender disparities in access to funding.
The firm’s Venture Success Platform, a team of experienced venture specialists, provides tailored support in areas such as product development, business strategy, and investor readiness.
This combination of funding and hands-on support distinguishes 54 Collective as a leading venture capital firm in Africa, with over 70 staff members across Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and the UK.
As the African venture capital sector continues to grow, with $6 billion invested annually, 54 Collective is positioning itself as a significant player, aiming to drive sustainable impact and economic growth across the continent.
The firm has evolved from investing only in the Agtech, Fintech, and Healthtech sectors to being sector-agnostic in its investments, supporting more founders across many sectors on the continent.
54 Collective helps founders navigate complex challenges to achieve commercial success and make an impact on the continent through economic growth and job creation.
The expansion plan comes amidst a drop in Venture Capital inflows to African startups.
In 2023 VC to African startups declined 31 percent to $4.5 billion (Sh581 billion) as foreign investors raced to the exits after the end of the zero-interest rate period.
The number of deals through equity or debt decreased to 545 from a record 781 in 2022, according to a report by the London-based African Private Capital Association. Many investors have argued that local VCs with deep knowledge of the continent need to step up and fill the gap.