AFRICA – The Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), has announced the launch of GIIG Africa Fund, a Curaçao-based private investment fund aimed at investing in early-stage tech innovation start-ups across Africa.
The GIIG Africa Fund will invest annually in the winners’ pool of start-up participants from the African region of the Global Start-up Awards (GSA), an independent start-up ecosystem competition.
Through its multi-platform venture-builders, GIIG says it seeks to develop the largest relationship infrastructure of mission-aligned African innovation stakeholders to accelerate the co-creation of disruptive African solutions.
According to a statement, the aim of the fund is to stimulate entirely new industries, accelerate cross-border collaboration and unlock access to new markets across Africa.
As the exclusive rights-holder for the GSA, GIIG is on the lookout for vetted participants across venture capital stages engaged in categories linked to the United Nations Sustainability Goals and mega-trends of the 2020s, which will invest in the fund.
GIIG founding partner Mahyar Makhzani explained that: “We are not just launching a new fund; rather, this is the dawn of a new way of finding and funding start-ups in Africa since our candidates will have had to go through a vigorous competition and vetting process to be eligible for funding. This means they will be the cream of the crop, thereby increasing our investors’ chances of success.”
Open only to qualified investors, the fund is seeking to raise US$100 million in capital commitments to invest in tech and innovation in Africa over the next three years and is targeted to return over 25%.
“The GIIG Africa fund is geared at breaking open the funding landscape to provide access for innovators across Africa to a world-class support team and significant global networks. For those with the drive and potential, this will be a game-changer for the top African tech disruptors,” said Caitlin Nash, GIIG founding partner.
GIIG will play a pivotal role in scouting talent from all 55 African Member states to stimulate cross-border collaboration.
“Africa is an untapped market for investment in tech and innovation, with the continent’s propensity for leapfrogging representing a sound and potentially lucrative alternative to markets in South America and Asia”
GIIG will be collaborating with one of the largest accountancy firms in the world, Africa’s top business school and an investment committee with wide-ranging knowledge and experience across venture capital, tech innovation and African startup spaces.
The fund is targeting to return over 25% and will invest annually in the winners pool from the African region of the Global Startup Awards (GSA) to stimulate entirely new industries, accelerate cross-border collaboration and unlock access to new markets across Africa.
“Our aim with the Fund is to create the impetus for smart investment in African tech start-ups; offering real investment options that will potentially lead to positive financial returns and lasting impact. Africa is an untapped market for investment in tech and innovation, with the continent’s propensity for leapfrogging representing a sound and potentially lucrative alternative to markets in South America and Asia,” added fellow GIIG Founding Partner, Philip Baldwin.
According to McKinsey & Company, Africa will be home to almost one-fifth of the world’s population by 2025, and by 2045 its cities will have more people living in them than in India and China combined.
This will escalate consumption on the continent, and coupled with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, will produce an estimated US$5.6 trillion in African business opportunities over the next few years.
“With this in mind, can investors afford to risk missing out on what has been hailed the greatest growth opportunity of the 21st century?” concluded GIIG Founding Partner, Jo Griffiths.
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