Africa

Venture funds raised $41.6bn worldwide in the first half of this year, down from $60bn in H1 of last year, according to exclusive research by Venture Capital Journal.

Investors include Nigeria's Bank of Industry, British International Investment, EDFI Management Company, Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund and Visa Foundation.

Private funds focused on Africa raised a combined $4bn across 22 vehicles in 2024, more than double the total value of fundraising in 2023, new research shows.

The venture effort will be supported by DPI's reach in more than 43 African countries and investments across nearly a dozen sectors.

P1 Ventures, an early-stage, Pan-African venture capital firm, has closed its inaugural institutional fund at $50 million.

The fund is backed by 'prominent Saudi institutional investors,' public investment fund Jada Fund of Funds, Saudi Venture Capital and Sanabil Investments.

VCs invested a total of $9.1bn in emerging venture markets in 2024, down from $15.3bn in 2023 and a high of $25.1bn in 2021.

Roman and Kirill Gurskiy left EY in 2017 to pursue their passion at GEM Capital and they have never looked back.

Stripe's $1.1bn acquisition of Bridge signals more mainstream acceptance of stablecoins among fintech players, especially those eyeing scale-up opportunities in developing markets.

The sixth annual Rising Stars celebrates the achievements of people under the age of 40 in the venture capital industry. The deadline for nominations is November 15.