Early-stage venture capital firm Ventures Platform has closed its second institutional fund, VP Pan-African Fund II, at $84 million, exceeding its original $75 million target.
The oversubscribed fund close comes three years after the firm completed its first fund, reflecting strong institutional appetite for African technology startups despite a global venture capital slowdown.
The final close brings new global development finance institutions and commercial investors into the fund's limited partner base, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD), Norfund, Alphatron, and the Ashesi University Foundation.
These new backers join existing first-close investors, including Nigeria’s Investment in digital and Creative Enterprises programme, the International Finance Corporation, Standard Bank, British International Investment, Proparco, and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Agency.
Ventures Platform will use the fresh capital to lead pre-seed to Series A investments, while retaining follow-on deployment capacity for portfolio companies operating across key economic sectors.
“Across Africa, we’re seeing a new generation of founders building enduring companies with greater technical depth, stronger governance, bigger ambition and a clear understanding of the markets they serve,” says Kola Aina, founding and managing partner of Ventures Platform. “These businesses are being built for resilience as much as growth, and we believe that positions them to create lasting value.”
Dirk Werner, managing director of equity at EBRD, comments: “By investing in Ventures Platform Pan-African Fund II, we are helping to strengthen the market infrastructure that enables innovative businesses to access growth capital and scale their impact.
“We see tremendous potential in Africa’s technology ecosystem and look forward to working alongside the firm to help build enduring businesses,” adds Jerry Jansen, investment manager at Alphatron.
Over the past decade, Ventures Platform has backed prominent African technology scale-ups, including Moniepoint, PiggyVest, OmniRetail, Raenest, and SeamlessHR.
ITWeb Africa previously reported that African tech startups raised over $2 billion in 2024, with seed-stage investments continuing to capture the largest share of deal volume across core hubs in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa.
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