Kenyan VC, Enza Capital closes $58M throughout funds

A Kenyan startup within the enterprise capital sector, Enza Capital, has efficiently closed two funding rounds, securing a complete of $58 million, TechCrunch stories.
Enza Capital makes a speciality of supporting startups that intention to bridge the hole between offline and on-line companies whereas digitizing important industries throughout Africa.
Again in 2019, the corporate launched an early-stage fund aspiring to determine, help and nurture groundbreaking startups on the pre-seed and seed levels.
“This fund stays energetic and has already invested in numerous sectors, together with fintech, logistics, healthcare, human capital, and local weather know-how. Enza Capital has since expanded its funding scope to incorporate later-stage corporations, notably these on the Sequence B degree,” the information outlet reported.
In an interview, Mike Mompi, the co-founder and managing accomplice of Enza Capital, shared that the agency has made investments in 31 totally different corporations, totalling 48 investments throughout eight African markets, spanning from Kenya and Uganda to Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Egypt, and South Africa.
Notable investments from Enza Capital’s portfolio embrace Guidewheel, a Kenyan local weather tech startup that expanded to the U.S. and Mexico, in addition to Shara, a Kenyan fintech firm.
Enza Capital additionally co-led a Sequence A funding in Ivorian fintech Djamo and Kenyan insurtech Turaco.
The corporate is understood for its dedication to its portfolio corporations, offering help at numerous levels of growth.
“Enza Capital sometimes invests between $250,000 and $5 million in its portfolio corporations, together with Autochek, Jumba, Craydel, Cloudline, and SeamlessHR. Moreover, they provide follow-on funding alternatives by Enza Development Capital, a later-stage funding car able to allocating as much as $20 million per firm.”
Enza Capital operates from Nairobi however has an eight-person group unfold throughout a number of cities, together with Johannesburg, London and New York.
There are plans to doubtlessly open workplaces in Lagos and a Francophone African metropolis to higher help portfolio corporations in these markets.
In a singular transfer, Enza Capital is launching a founder accomplice program, which permits founders and management groups of its portfolio corporations to grow to be co-owners of the agency. This program goals to strengthen belief and long-term partnerships past conventional enterprise capital constructions.
“The corporate intends to allocate 10% of its carry pool again to the founders, with distribution decided by components like referrals, preliminary investments, and follow-on funding.”
Whereas this method might appear to be freely giving fairness or cash, Enza Capital believes it fosters alignment and collaboration with founders, in the end growing the probability of success for all stakeholders.
It’s famous that Mr Mompi and his accomplice, John Lazar, have skilled the challenges of elevating enterprise capital and scaling an organization, which drives their need to help founders, even in instances the place startups might not succeed.
Enza Capital stands out as one in all Africa’s largest funds not backed by typical African institutional traders, signalling the growing mainstream acceptance of enterprise capital in Africa.
The agency’s restricted companions embrace founding companions, personal people, household workplaces, foundations, fund of funds, hedge funds, and enterprise capital funds, reflecting a various and sturdy funding base.
Enza Capital hopes to see extra involvement from African Growth Finance Establishments (DFIs) and different conventional African LPs, in addition to international endowments, foundations, and pension funds because the African startup ecosystem matures.