Enza Capital, a venture capital business based in Kenya, has raised $58 million in two rounds. The fundraising is significant because African entrepreneurs typically have difficulty raising funds from venture capitalists.
In 2019, the company announced its first early-stage fund to “find, back, and help build category-defining startups” in the pre-seed and seed phases. According to Tech Crunch, the fund is still functioning and has made investments in fintech, logistics, health, human capital, and climate tech startups.
According to Tech Crunch, Enza Capital, which now self-describes as a multi-stage investor due to its greater follow-on investments to Series B, is still paying attention to these areas in its second fund announced this year.
To far, the business has invested in 48 companies. According to co-founder Mike Mompi, the investment includes eight African markets, including Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Egypt, and South Africa.
The Nairobi-based venture capital business used its pilot fund to invest in Guidewheel, a Kenyan climate tech startup. Following a Greycroft-led Series A round, Guidewheel has since expanded to the United States and Mexico.
Shara, a Kenyan fintech, is also on Enza Capital’s radar. According to Tech Crunch, the VC firm gave the startup a pre-seed check before it raised a yet-to-be-announced Series A round headed by Index Ventures.
Enza Capital has also made investments in companies such as Autochek, Jumba, Craydel, Cloudline, and SeamlessHR, with checks ranging from $250,000 to $5 million.
The venture capital business, which has offices in Nairobi, Johannesburg, London, and New York, aims to expand into Nigerian and Francophone Africa to help its portfolio companies in those regions.
Prior to that, the VC firm launched its founder partner program, through which the founders and leadership teams of its portfolio businesses will become co-owners of the firm. According to Enza Capital, 10% of its carry pool will be allocated to these partners based on referrals and investment amount.
According to data provided by the African Private Capital Association (APCA), foreign venture capital investment into Africa plummeted almost 40% in the first half of 2023, with only $2.1 billion in deals taking place throughout the continent, compared to $3.5 billion raised in the same period in 2022. That is why companies like Enza are being lauded for their assistance to African enterprises.