New Delhi, April 15 -- Development Partners International (DPI), an Africa-focused private equity firm that manages assets and co-investments worth over $3 billion across three investment vehicles, has forayed into the venture capital asset class and taken over management of an Egyptian fintech fund.
The new vertical, DPI Venture Capital, will target investments in early-stage, growth-oriented technology businesses across Africa, the PE firm said in a statement. As part of the expansion, DPI has taken over the management control of Nclude Fund, which has $105 million in assets under management.
The development comes at a time when DPI is raising the largest PE vehicle in the continent-a $1 billion target African Development Partners IV.
DPI Venture Capital will provide investment advisory services to the Nclude Innovation Fund, including its existing investments, and decide on further capital deployment. The VC arm will be led by managing partner Ashley Lewis with Mohamed Aladdin as a General Partner in Cairo.
"By establishing DPI Venture Capital, DPI has fulfilled its long-standing ambition to provide investors with a range of investment strategies in Africa," said Runa Alam, co-founder and CEO, DPI. Alam added that the completion of the Nclude transaction will empower its investors to add exposure to highly innovative growth-oriented businesses.
Nclude, the largest fintech-focused fund in Africa, has invested over $28 million across nine transactions since its establishment in 2022. It has invested in companies such as Paymob, Khazna, Flapkap, and Connect Money.
Nclude is backed by limited partners from Egypt's largest national banks, including Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, and Banque du Caire, and joined by financial services-focused LPs such as e-Finance Investment Group, EBC, and Mastercard. Nclude was launched with the support of the Central Bank of Egypt, and can invest up to 30% of its commitments into deals in the wider Middle East and Africa region, to help such companies expand into Egypt.
"The African venture capital ecosystem is still underpenetrated, and there is a fantastic opportunity for Africa-focused fund sponsors to make a significant impact on the ecosystem," said Lewis.
DPI said Egypt is a priority market for the firm. It has invested nearly $850 million in Egypt in the last decade and has backed companies including fintech unicorn MNT-Halan and Egyptian discount supermarket chain Kazyon.
The PE firm DPI has made 32 investments in 25 companies across 43 African countries since its inception in 2007.
DPI had closed fundraising for its third vehicle, the $900 million African Development Partners III Fund, in 2021, with a $100 million oversubscription. The vehicle has an additional $250 million of co-investment capital. It recently struck its ninth bet from ADP III, leading a $110 million Series C equity investment round in Nigerian fintech player Moneipoint. It led the consortium of investors, including Google's Africa Investment Fund, Lagos-based PE firm Verod Capital, and global impact firm and existing investor Lightrock.
The other portfolio companies of ADP III include global mobile services fintech provider Channel VAS, Tunisian tomato producer SICAM, and MNT-Halan. The fund is focused on key sectors such as financial services, healthcare, agri-business, education, and telecom infrastructure.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.