Ventures Platform Raises $83M Second Africa Fund to Expand Beyond Nigeria

Ventures Platform has raised an oversubscribed $83 million second fund, according to TechCrunch. The Pan-African venture firm is using the new vehicle to expand beyond its home market of Nigeria while continuing to focus on early-stage founders.

The fund follows Ventures Platform’s $46 million Fund I, raised in 2022, which centered primarily on pre-seed and seed rounds. Founding partner Kola Aina said Fund I helped demonstrate that the firm’s early-stage investing approach in Africa could work at institutional scale.

The firm plans to back startups across sectors including fintech, healthcare, SaaS, and other areas where technology can address essential needs and support durable businesses. AI is part of the thesis, especially where it can change the economics of serving African markets.

Ventures Platform is widening its geographic mandate beyond Nigeria and has already written checks from Fund II to five companies based in Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt. Check sizes will be up to $3 million, and the firm hopes to deploy the capital over the next three to four years.

Aina described the fundraising environment as more selective than it was during Fund I. LPs are asking harder questions about performance, portfolio construction, liquidity, discipline, and differentiation.

That shift reflects a broader reset in venture: capital is no longer assumed to be unlimited, and investors want clearer evidence that managers can turn portfolio value into realized returns. In African venture, the conversation has moved from curiosity about the market to proof of strategy, access, execution, and return potential.

TechCrunch reports that African startups have raised around $930 million across more than 200 deals this year, compared with $1.16 billion across 447 deals last year. In that environment, Ventures Platform’s larger Fund II suggests LP support is still available for managers that can show discipline and a credible edge.

That support includes returning LPs: 70% of Fund I’s LPs came back for Fund II. Backers include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Norfund, and Ghana’s Ashesi University Foundation.