Breega, one of Europe’s fastest-growing early stage funds, has launched its first African fund, “Breega Africa Seed I,” with the goal of becoming the premier early-stage investor in African entrepreneurs.
With offices in Paris, London, and Barcelona, Breega has been investing in businesses from more than 100 countries since its first fund closed in 2015. The firm now manages 700 million USD.
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Launching its new pan-African fund “Breega Africa Seed I,” Breega has expanded its operations to two additional locations in Lagos, Nigeria, and Cape Town, South Africa. Investments from the $75 million fund will go towards projects in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, in addition to a number of French-speaking African nations like Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The in-house scaling team at Breega has already helped a number of notable start-ups on the continent, including as Numida, Socium, Klasha, Kwara, Coachbit, and Sava, get off the ground.
Melvyn Lubega, known for creating the digital education unicorn Go1, and Tosin Faniro-Dada, who was the former CEO of Endeavour in Nigeria, are at the helm of the new fund. Lubega, based in Cape Town, will oversee Breega’s operations throughout Southern and Eastern Africa.
While 18% of the world’s population resides in Africa, the continent only receives 1% of global funding. Africa is on the cusp of a technology revolution, and there is a massive financing gap that needs to be filled. According to Lubega, Breega, a worldwide fund for founders that was created by founders themselves, can help bridge this divide.
Faniro-Dada, who oversees operations in the Western and Northern African regions, will bring valuable expertise to the table, having served as a director of the African fintech unicorn Flutterwave.
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An upsurge of invention and ambition is sweeping the African continent, and it is reflected in the continent’s booming entrepreneurial scene. Aspiration to solve the continent’s problems motivates our entrepreneurs. I am absolutely happy to be able to support them through the innovative concept we have built at Breega. It is truly inspiring,” she remarked.
In this fund, Breega intends to invest initial investments ranging from $100,000 to $2,000,000. To achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will invest in critical areas including agri-tech, ed-tech, e-health, fintech, insurtech, prop-tech, and logistics, with an emphasis on high-impact and sustainable solutions.
