The first two problems of an average Nigerian startup founder claims they have is, 1. Funding and 2. Funding. This is even when less attention is placed on generating revenue, satisfying customers and perfecting the business processes. Well, what can we do than continue to preach that it is the other way round.
Nevertheless, for startup founders who might need this (and they definitely do), we have curated a list of 10 active Venture capital firms in Nigeria. Some are based in Nigeria, others aren’t but have investments in the country. So, have your pick, ladies, and send them an application if you will.
- Ventures platforms
Ventures platform is a venture capital firm founded and led by a serial entrepreneur, Kola Aina. Having founded the firm in 2016, Kola and Ventures Platforms have invested and now own a part of numerous thriving startups in the ecosystem. Applications for an annual accelerator program is always opened at the beginning of the year, for the Abuja (and Lagos) based firm. Some of the start-ups in their portfolio include Paystack, Wallet.ng, ThriveAgric, MyPadi.ng and more.
2. Greentree investments
Through the Greentree Startup Lab,entrepreneurs are given exactly what they need to grow a sustainable business – quickly! The firm has invested in the likes of payment processor company, Paystack, media company, TechCabal and Precurio. And is led by Olabode Agusto, Abasiama Idaresit and Dr. Ola Orekunrin.
3. EchoVC
The partners at EchoVC boast of an experienced seed, early stage & growth technology venture capital funding. They are focused on financing and cross-pollinating leading technologies, teams and business models in some parts of the world, including sub-saharan Africa, and Nigeria at large. They have invested in the likes of Hotels.ng, Printivo, Frontier Car Group (FCG) and so on.
4. Spark
At the helm of its affairs are Jason Njoku and Bastian Gotter who were co-founders of Iroko TV. With the look of things, SPARK seem to maintain a close and personal relationship with the startups they invest in. This speaks volume of how much they want them to succeed. Well, there must be great ROIs, yeah? Hotels.ng, Ogavenue, Drinks.ng, MyFoto are all on SPARK’s portfolio.
5. Microtraction
Just a bit over 8 months since it launched, Microtraction has received applications from 620 companies, had 74 Shortlisted companies, 24 Investment Committee, 12 Due diligence and 7 investments. That’s quite great for a less than one year old VC firm and goes to show how active they could be.
6. Rocket Internet
Rocket Internet incubates and invests in technology companies with proven business models, providing operational support and help to scale internationally. One thing to point out is that Nigeria is not left out, as they invested in e-commerce company, Jumia, and acquired it from Nigerian founders.
7. IFC Capital
IFC’s Venture Capital group are a body that invests in ventures and growth stage companies. They make sure these companies offer innovative technologies or business models geared at emerging markets. Healthcare, edu-tech, internet —including ecommerce—and clean-tech sums up their focus sectors. Members of their portfolio include Flat6labs, Andela, Rocket Internet, Kaymu and recently, Africa’s Talking .
8. TLcom Capital
Since 1999, TL com capital has been investing in Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) companies in Europe, Israel and Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). They have offices based in Lagos, Nairobi and London. In 2017, the venture capital firm raised $40 million to invest in African startups and recently invested in Terragon and mSurvey
