The Africa-focused venture capital firm 4DX has added the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to its limited partners for its third pan-African Fund. As a limited partner, the IFC has made a $10.5 million equity investment in the fund.
In addition to the capital, IFC will work with 4DX Ventures to implement its environmental and social management system.
IFC’s investment in 4DX Ventures Fund III comes from its $225 million venture capital platform launched last year to strengthen emerging VC ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan.
Where will the money go?
4DX III, the US$100M (target) pan-African venture capital fund, will mainly make initial investments in pre-Series A startups and follow-on investments through later stages. With local offices in Accra, Ghana, Cairo, Egypt, and Nairobi, Kenya, the fund will invest across Africa. The sector-agnostic fund will bold and gifted entrepreneurs building tech solutions in climate tech, fintech, eCommerce, edtech, logistics, and healthtech.
According to SEC filings, the fund has already secured $48.9 million for the new investment vehicle.
What’s 4DX Ventures track record like?
Led by four partners, Peter Orth, Walter Baddoo, Daniel Marlo, and Raaid Ahmad, 4DX has backed some of Africa’s most iconic technology companies since 2014. The firm’s first two funds invested in unicorns such as Andela and Flutterwave. It also backed soonicorns such as Kenya-based B2B e-commerce platform Wasoko and South Africa’s offline payment platform Yoco. Other companies in its portfolio include Egypt-based e-commerce MaxAB, Ghana-based health tech mPharma, and South African climate fintech Hohm Energy.
Commenting on the transaction, Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and General Partner of 4DX Ventures, mentioned that “IFC and 4DX Ventures share the commitment to supporting tech entrepreneurs with innovations that will help Africa leapfrog in critical areas such as climate, health care, fintech, e-commerce, and education”. “We look forward to partnering with IFC to help promising tech startups build transformative businesses and realise sustainable development impact on the continent.”
Source: IFC
