• Lapaire

  Participated · Equity · Jan 2024

  Lapaire operates a one-stop eyecare model delivering fashionable, high-quality eyewear and accessible eye testing. Founded in 2018 and based in the Ivory Coast, the company runs 58 branches across six African countries (Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Uganda). To date it has tested over 300,000 people and reports 180,000 lives improved through its services. Lapaire plans to expand aggressively, aiming to establish 300 new eye care facilities across Africa and to positively impact one million people by 2026. The startup raised US$3 million in equity to support expansion and operational optimization. Proceeds are earmarked to optimize operations and grow the company’s presence in existing and emerging African markets.

• Kwara

  Participated · Seed · Dec 2021

  Kwara provides back-office software and banking-as-a-service to credit unions (Saccos), automating paper-based processes and enabling new products and member onboarding. Its platform includes a next-generation neobank app that gives Sacco members access to instant loans, third-party services like insurance, and direct deposits into Sacco accounts. The company has expanded internationally with a presence in South Africa and the Philippines and was co-founded in 2019 by Cynthia Wandia and David Hwan. Kwara grew its client base from 50 to 120 over the past year while maintaining 100% customer retention, and its neobank app user base has grown 35-fold since launch. The startup plans to double down on Kenya, invest in enterprise-grade features for larger Saccos, improve the neo-banking experience with personalized goal features, and add more third-party partnerships. As part of its growth strategy it is set to acquire IRNET and has signed an exclusive digital solutions distribution agreement with Kuscco to access over 4,000 Saccos. Kwara, launched in 2019, provides a proprietary backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform to help credit unions (SACCOs) digitize operations. Its platform supports core banking functions and enables members to view and download statements, apply for loans, and make repayments. Kwara's client count grew from two to 50 in just over two years; it currently serves about 60,000 SACCO members and has supported $40 million in transactions on its platform. Clients using its technology have seen membership growth of over 19% year-on-year and a 46% increase in loan base, and the beta uptake of the upcoming app ranged from 60% to 90%. Kwara is building a neobank app to let individuals sign up with preferred credit unions and access instant loans and third-party services such as insurance, with a full launch planned for mid next year. The company has expanded into South Africa and the Philippines and aims to triple its credit union customers to 150 and cross 100,000 members next year, with a long-term goal to serve 1 billion people by 2030.

• Jefa

  Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

  Jefa is a fintech startup building digital accounts specifically for women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its mobile app will let users open a free digital account without visiting a branch and receive a Visa debit card a few days later. The product includes a built-in savings feature and a rewards program, designed to address product decisions that have historically been unfriendly to women. Jefa has attracted 115,000 women on its waitlist and raised $2 million in a seed round to develop the product. The company also signed a multi-year strategic partnership with Visa to leverage Visa’s resources and products for its payment offerings. Jefa plans to launch first in Mexico, then expand to Colombia and Central America.

• MDaaS Global

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2021

  MDaaS Global is a Nigerian health tech company operating tech-enabled diagnostic centers that provide imaging (digital x-ray, ultrasound), cardiac services (ECG, echo) and a range of lab services from chemistry to immunoassay and hematology. Its BeaconOS platform serves as the operating system for its centers, and the company also offers products like SentinelX (now focused on B2B corporate screenings), Olewerk to optimize workflows, and Beam for occupational-health management. The company currently runs 17 diagnostic centers across 10 states and plans to construct an additional 23 centers to extend coverage to all Nigerian states via company-owned and affiliate clinics. MDaaS has an integrated care network of over 1,300 referring clinicians across more than 1,000 organizations and connections to 34 HMOs. Since inception the startup has served over 275,000 patients (108,724 in the past year), conducted over 240,000 diagnostic tests, and reports that 60.8% of patients in the past year were women. MDaaS Global runs tech-enabled, centralized diagnostic centers that aggregate demand from small and medium hospitals to offer imaging (digital x-ray, ultrasound), cardiac (ECG, echo) and lab services (chemistry, immunoassay, hematology). The company built its model after importing and servicing secondary medical equipment and shifting to a centralized diagnostic-centre aggregation approach to reduce capital burdens on individual clinics. MDaaS has served over 40,000 patients and performed more than 80,000 diagnostic tests, with 750 clinicians in its referral network and partnerships with 500+ health facilities and 10 HMO networks. It recently launched SentinelX, a personalized-care screening program (private beta) that charges a one-time N35k (~$70) annual fee and offers panels of roughly 60–70 biomarkers plus clinical and family-history analysis; the product planned a public launch in September 2021. The company targets low- to middle-income patients and emphasizes cost-customized diagnostic infrastructure while training younger doctors to mitigate brain drain. MDaaS plans to add six more diagnostic centers this year and aims to operate 100 centers across Africa and serve one million patients per year by 2025. MDaaS Global builds and operates diagnostic centres in Nigeria offering services such as digital x-ray, ultrasound, mammography, chemistry analysis, immunoassay and hematology. The startup was founded in 2016 and is led by CEO Oluwasoga Oni, CFO Genevieve Barnard Oni, supply chain manager Joe McCord and Nigeria country manager Opeyemi Ologun. It has participated in accelerator and incubation programs including Techstors Impact and the Harvard Innovation Labs Venture Incubation Programme. Last year the company raised $100,000 from Nigerian VC Ventures Platform. The company recently filed an SEC disclosure showing ongoing equity fundraising activity and has not provided public comment on the deal details. MDaaS Global operates tech-enabled low-cost medical diagnostic and primary care centers aimed at expanding access to affordable healthcare in Africa. The company was founded in 2016 by Oluwasoga Oni, Genevieve Barnard Oni, Joe McCord and Opeyemi Ologun. Its first centre in Ibadan reached breakeven after five months of operation and the company reported revenue growth of 500% since January. MDaaS has pursued validation and support through programs including Techstars Impact and the Harvard Innovation Labs Venture Incubation Programme. The team emphasizes building a scalable network of clinics to serve a broad set of consumers regardless of income level. These operational milestones underpin the company’s growth strategy and attractiveness to investors.

• Good Nature Agro

  Participated · Series A · Oct 2020

  Good Nature Agro is a for-profit social enterprise founded in 2014 that works with small-scale farmers across southern Africa. It supplies high-quality legume seed and commodities and provides finance and training to help farmers increase incomes and transition from poverty toward the middle class. The company describes itself as tech-enabled while valuing personal, face-to-face relationships in the fields and factories. Good Nature engages the full value chain—connecting growers, aggregators, processors and consumers—to keep farmers at the center of agricultural supply chains. It closed an $8.5 million Series B equity financing to support growth and deepen farmer engagement. The company plans to use the capital to reintegrate whole farm income, develop genetic solutions for greater yields and resilience, and pursue farmer-centric innovations. Good Nature Agro Products (GNA) works with approximately 30,000 smallholders to produce seeds for replanting and commodities for consumption or processing across four legumes: groundnut, cowpea, soybean, and beans. The company focuses on open-pollinated varieties and seed research to adapt varieties to local terroirs and smallholder needs. GNA’s activities aim to improve soil fertility through legume cultivation and increase access to nutritious, protein-rich foods. The enterprise plans to expand processing capacity by building a new factory in Lusaka while strengthening seed production and R&D at its historical headquarters in Chipata, Eastern Zambia. The expansion is intended to stabilize domestic supply, open export markets, create jobs, and reinforce the local value chain. GNA was founded in 2014 and positions legume value chains as a pathway to higher-value, export-driven agriculture for Zambian farmers. Good Nature Agro is a Zambian agritech social enterprise that develops and supplies legume seed varieties and provides full-farm services to smallholder farmers. The company uses a 'Source' model that supplies high-quality seeds on loan, deploys Private Extension Agents (PEAs), offers customised input packages, guaranteed offtake contracts, and financial planning. GNA aims to support 15,000 small-scale farmers and reports participating growers earn three to four times more than when farming maize, with claims it can triple incomes within 24 months. The startup plans to use new capital to build value-add processing infrastructure in central and eastern Zambia, expand full-farm extension services, connect farmers to large agribusinesses and food processors, and advance its seed breeding program. Its model emphasizes improved land health via legumes, increased soil fertility, and predictable, well-documented cash flows for farmers while maintaining personalised advisory services as it scales.

No current team members are available.