Pan-African venture capital firm Django Capital has closed its oversubscribed second fund at €73 million ($78 million), exceeding its €60 million ($63 million) target by 20%. In 2022, Django Capital will reach an initial close of its second fund of €26 million, with capital from several limited partners including the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). did.
Both anchor investors also participated in the fund’s second and final closing, Founder and Executive Chairman Fatoumata Bah told TechCrunch in an interview. These institutional investors include three institutions with African mandates: the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, Tunisia’s fund of funds ANAVA, and the endowment fund of Ghana-based non-profit university Assisi University. Other institutional investors are also participating.
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) are also limited partners in Janngo Capital’s second fund.
Development finance institutions such as DFC and IFC have helped build Africa’s startup ecosystem by investing in local funds that support early- and growth-stage startups. However, the participation of domestic institutional investors such as hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and endowments remains limited. Therefore, efforts by companies like Janngo to bring in local capital not only demonstrate confidence to foreign investors, but also support the continent’s technology ecosystem.
“Africa accounts for 17% of the world’s population, but only attracts 1-2% of global venture capital funding, from $150 million raised 10 years ago to around $4-5 billion today. Despite the growth, the rate is stagnant,” Barr said. “If we believe that technology is essential to Africa’s economic development, we need proportionate access to VC. That’s why our goal is not to hit targets or achieve oversubscription, but rather to invest in private LPs. , we especially wanted to attract African LPs.”
LP revenue generation
Venture capital firms need to demonstrate commercial success through metrics such as DPI, IRR, and MOIC in order to get more local institutional capital involved in the asset class. Janngo Capital is proving that it can do just that. The company is currently posting an IRR of 48% since exiting Tunisian expense management platform Expensya to accounts payable (AP) automation provider Medius last year.
At the same time, this “gender equality” company is dedicated to generating solid returns and impact through its investments, and has more female founders or female-led companies than the average African venture capital firm. By supporting startups, it is setting the standard for the latter. . These startups, like Sabi, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform with a female CEO, make up 56% of Janngo Capital’s current portfolio across both funds.
“Our argument hasn’t changed. We’ve proven it with exits like Expensya, where we were the first VC on the cap table. , as a primarily women-owned fund, we place great importance on investing in women entrepreneurs,” said Barr. “This focus is important because while Africa has the highest proportion of female entrepreneurs in the world, only a small portion of global venture capital funding flows to female founders. It was essential for us to demonstrate that the high-impact theme of directing capital to sectors outside of , early-stage venture capital and fintech can be realized.”
Similarly, maintaining diversity, 67% of the firm’s portfolio companies are from Francophone Africa. Expensya, Moroccan agritech company YoLa Fresh, and Ivorian fintech company Djamo are some examples.
Support winners early
Janngo Capital’s original plan after closing its first deal two years ago was to back 25 companies. However, given the additional funding, the fund, which will take 15-30% ownership in startups, will expand its goal by investing in an additional 10-15 companies over the next five years, Bâ said. Point out. As such, Django Capital expects its portfolio to grow to between 25 and 40 companies, with the second fund having a similar theme from seed to Series B as the first.
Since launching its first fund in 2018, Janngo Capital has made more than 30 investments in 21 startups across both funds, and in some cases, in subsequent Series B rounds. Its first fund was large, around $10 million, and seeded 11 companies, including Expensya and Sabi. Jaango Capital doubled down on Series B rounds for both startups from its second fund.
Janngo Capital’s check sizes range from €150,000 to €5 million for startups active in the healthcare, logistics, financial services, retail, agritech, mobility and creator economy sectors. With offices in Abidjan, Mauritius, Tunis and Paris, the company has a team of operating partners skilled in technology, sales, marketing and ESG to support its portfolio companies. This operational approach reflects the background of founder Fatoumata Bâ, who held executive and management positions at African e-commerce company Jumia.
“We are incredibly hands-on in helping our portfolio companies meet product-market fit, build MVPs at seed stage, grow, and expand into new markets when needed.” Bâ explained. “And I think this is an additional thing that will help us de-risk or improve the risk-return profile of our fund and, as you can see, get an early exit.”
Expensya and Sabi stand out as Janngo Capital’s flagship successes, as the former was acquired for approximately $120 million and the latter generates $1 billion in annual gross circulation.
Expensya’s exit is notable as it ranks among the top announced acquisitions from Africa. It also speaks to Janngo Capital’s “belief-driven” deal process (as the first African VC on a startup’s cap table), leading many local VC firms to look at partial exits and restructuring. Given the current situation, this process is becoming useful. We provide liquidity even under difficult financing conditions.
“For us, especially compared to some of my very respected colleagues who are continuing to work towards the first full withdrawal, it is important to show that withdrawal is happening sooner or later in our journey. It’s very important,” Barr said. “But, of course, what matters beyond the financial goals is how well the company has done in its fully deployed 10 years.”