Led · Equity · Aug 2025

Zener International Holding (ZIH), formerly Sodigaz, is a Togolese energy group focused on fuel distribution, LPG storage and supporting energy-transition infrastructure. The company is expanding regionally and has secured capital to acquire downstream assets and grow its retail and storage footprint. The recent financing will fund Zener’s takeover of Petrogal Guinea-Bissau’s network of service stations, strategic fuel and gas depots, and aviation storage infrastructure. Zener has previously raised structured funding, notably a €16.2m facility from the IFC in August 2022 that increased GPL storage capacity by 3,600 tonnes and equipped five future stations with bottle-exchange modules and solar kits. The group states its strategy is to anchor locally in markets with high potential while supporting expanded infrastructure for the energy transition. Management is positioning the company to benefit from a regional shift away from international majors toward local and pan-African operators.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2023

Koree is an African fintech that runs a cashback product and aims to connect users to a large network of merchants. The company says it will use recently raised funds to grow its merchant network and scale its user base. Koree announced it closed a $200K pre-seed round. Named backers include Tunde Akinnuwa, Cameroon Angels Network, Catalytic Africa, Digital Africa and private investors. The startup has won the Orange Fab Challenge and The Ecobank Fintech Challenge, which the team cites as validation. Management frames its investors as "Day1 believers and enablers" and signals plans to expand in 2024.

Participated · Debt Financing · Sep 2015

Smile Telecoms Holdings is a pan‑African telecommunications group founded in 2007 and incorporated in Mauritius, led by CEO Irene Charnley. It owns and operates 4G LTE mobile broadband networks in the 800MHz band in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda and has an associate in South Africa and plans to launch in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company launched commercial 4G LTE networks in 2012, starting in Dar es Salaam and Kampala, followed by Ibadan and Lagos in Nigeria. Core products and services are super‑fast data and, by the end of 2015, clear voice services; planned network roll‑out work involves Alcatel‑Lucent and Ericsson, a full MPLS network, a London point of presence and expanded international backhaul. Smile's stated objective is to become the broadband provider of choice for high‑speed data and clear voice across its markets and to provide over 300 million potential customers in its four countries of operation with a high quality platform. The company raised $365M of financing to accelerate national network roll‑out and fund operating expenditure and working capital.

Participated · Debt Financing · Sep 2015

Smile Telecoms is a Mauritius-based telecommunications company that operates LTE broadband networks in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. It offers mobile high-speed broadband and plans to launch in the Democratic Republic of Congo early next year. The company intends to expand its LTE infrastructure to match the coverage of its 3G networks by the end of this year. Smile says it has more than 300 million potential customers across those four markets, where internet penetration remains low (Nigeria 38%, Uganda 23%, Tanzania 14%, DR Congo 6.5%). The new capital will fund infrastructure buildout and help it compete with incumbents such as MTN, Airtel, Telefonica and Orange. Since founding in 2007 the company has now raised $600 million to date.