MAGIC Fund raises US$30m to scale its global founders-backing-founders vision

AFRICA – MAGIC Fund, a global collective of founders, has announced it has raised a US$30 million second fund to continue backing early-stage startups.

MAGIC Fund is a global collective of founders that backs other founders solving daunting challenges. Since debuting in 2017, it has invested in 70 companies, including Nigerian fintech startup Mono.

For Fund II, one-third of the entire fund was contributed by MAGIC Fund’s founder GPs, while LPs include Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel, Tim Draper, Ace & Company, Rappi’s Andres Bilbao, Octopus Ventures’ Kirsten Connell, Paystack’s Shola Akinlade, Flutterwave’s Gbenga Agboola, and Katie Lewis, among others.

Africa-focused investments will be overseen by Kauffman Fellow Temi Marcella Awogboro, while Helium Health’s Dimeji Sofowora and Alison Cheung oversee European investments. Southeast Asia investments will be led by Payfazz’s Hendra Kwik and Oxy2’s Elvis Zhang.

“The vision for MAGIC is going back to how early-stage venture capital began, which is, founders investing in other founders and supporting them through the journey.”

Adegoke Olubusi – Managing partner, MAGIC Fund

“The vision for MAGIC is going back to how early-stage venture capital began, which is, founders investing in other founders and supporting them through the journey. We’re going to keep scaling this up as much as we can, across different geographies and industries, and we’re very happy for the headstart we already have,” said Adegoke Olubusi, managing partner of MAGIC Fund, and Helium Health’s CEO.

MAGIC Fund II will be writing checks of between US$100,000 and US$300,000 in early-stage companies across different sectors and geographies. It has a keen focus on startups that build infrastructure while delivering a quality customer experience, especially in emerging markets, and is accepting pitches from founders through its website.

MAGIC Fund is an early-stage fund built on the thesis that smaller funds run by diverse founders perform the best at early-stage investing (pre-seed/seed).

They are a fund of micro-funds run by repeat founders who possess strong expertise in specific industries and geographies, with a keen focus on fintech, healthcare, and emerging markets (Africa, LATAM, SE Asia).