Africa-Focused Early-Stage Investor Ventures Platform Raises $64m

Daba Finance
Dotun Olowoporoku, Managing Partner, and Kola Aina, Founding Partner of Ventures Platform - based in Abuja - one of Africa’s most active early-stage venture capital firms,
6 November 2025
Daba Finance (Abidjan)

Ventures Platform, one of Africa's most active early-stage venture capital firms, has raised $64 million so far for its second fund, with a final close target of $75 million, according to founding partner Kola Aina.

The raise includes participation from the Nigerian government through its Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) program -- marking the first time Nigeria has invested directly in a VC fund.

Other backers include the IFC, British International Investment (BII), Proparco, Standard Bank, MSMEDA, AfricaGrow, and prominent family offices such as Alder Tree Investment, alongside notable global investors like former Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel. About 70% of LPs from the firm's previous fund have re-invested.

Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines

Launched in 2016, Ventures Platform has built a reputation for identifying breakout African startups early. Its second fund will expand beyond pre-seed and seed rounds to include Series A investments, focusing on larger ownership stakes and "investing with more conviction."

Daba is Africa's leading investment platform for private and public markets. Download here

Key Takeaways

Ventures Platform's latest raise reinforces investor confidence in Africa's innovation ecosystem despite a global VC slowdown. The participation of Nigeria's government through iDICE represents a landmark moment for state-backed venture investing, signaling recognition of startups as key economic drivers. With over 90 portfolio companies across fintech, healthtech, agritech, edtech, and AI, Ventures Platform is known for funding "painkiller businesses" that solve for non-consumption--such as Moniepoint, Paystack, LemFi, and SeamlessHR. The new fund's broader strategy reflects a shift toward supporting later-stage African startups as local capital formation deepens and foreign funding tightens. Kola Aina said the firm's first fund ranked among the top global performers by TVPI and IRR for its vintage, helping attract repeat investors. Despite slower exits and liquidity challenges, Aina believes Africa remains a "pure asymmetric play" for long-term, high-upside investors, underpinned by strong demographics, GDP growth, and the rapid digitization of offline sectors.

Read the original article on Daba Finance.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2025 Daba Finance. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.