African-based venture capital firmEquator raised $55 million for its first fund which will work to back early-stage climate tech startups in Africa. This is the company’ssecond fund for climate tech startups in Africa.
Equator says it plans to use the fund to invest in 15 to 18 startups with funding capital ranging from $750,000 to $1 million checks for companies at the Seed stage, and $2 million for those at Series A.
The fund will be used to help founders with unit economics, governance and regional expansion. Also, the fund wants to reserve capital for follow-on investments and later-stage rounds and mobilise its LPs as co-investors to bring in equity, debt, or blended financing.
The African continentcontributes a small portion to global CO2 emission (3.9%). In the last two decades, the continent's contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions fluctuated between 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent - the smallest share among all world's regions.
Equator’s focus on climate tech startups aligns with its commitment to campaign for climate action in Sub-Saharan Africa through the energy, agriculture and mobility sectors. These companies are high-growth, ready-to-scale ventures with products that are ready for market.
Currently, the VC fund has invested in Apollo Agriculture (Kenya), Odyssey Energy Solutions (Nigeria), Roam (Kenya) and ShyftPower (Nigeria).
“We are needed more than ever to invest in technology and scalable ventures tackling fundamental climate challenges. These investments will help reduce dependence on aid and instead bring more global private capital into the region.” said Nijhad Jamal, Managing Partner at Equator.
Editor of Tech Africa. With a degree in Media Studies and Communication from the University of the Free State, I bring a wealth of experience in journalism and copywriting.
