TLcom Capital, a UK-based venture capital firm focused on Africa, best known for its bets on Twiga and Andela, has reportedly announced that it is raising more than $150 million for its second fund, oriented towards making initial and late stage investments.
As per sources, the business has already managed to reach its first close of over $70 million. The amount is almost equivalent to what the firm raised in TIDE Africa Fund; one of its first fund that attained its first close in 2017 and a final close in February of last year.
Maurizio Caio, managing partner, TLcom, stated that the second fund is supposed to achieve a second close this year as well.
It will be TLcom’s biggest fundraise to date when it closes, with a $350 million AUM throughout Europe and Africa with operations in Nairobi, Lagos, and London. This will also help the investor become one of the continent's top independent investment firms.
In early 2020, TLcom's $71 million TIDE Africa Fund was reported alongside its plans to make investments in 12 Africa-based startups from the seed round to the Series B. The organization, however, only managed to make invests in 11 startups, including Ajua, Andela, Autochek, Kobo360, Ilara Health, Okra, Shara, Pula, Twiga, Terragon Group, and uLesson.
Reports claim, that all 12 of the company’s existing portfolio firms are headquartered in Kenya or Nigeria. TLcom intends to expand its commitment to Egypt with the investment fund, as well as make further investments in East and West African nations with the new fund, says the company.
Traditional industries such as mobility, financial, agribusiness, education, healthcare, as well as e-commerce remain TLcom's primary focus. Caio, on the other hand, stated that the business is keen on investing in firms venturing into crypto, web3, and DeFi, which are latest areas with a lot of upsides and put African startups on a fair playing field with other nations.
Source credit: https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/27/tlcom-capital-targets-150m-for-its-second-fund-to-invest-in-20-african-startups/