Constant Ventures, a part of the Constant Group, is raising a US$100 million venture capital fund to invest across a range of technology startups in West Africa.
The Constant Group was founded in 2006 and today comprises two divisions – Constant Capital and Constant Ventures – with a combined total of 40 professionals.
Constant Ventures was established to provide capital to a portfolio of tech-enabled companies across the fintech, healthcare and logistics sectors. It has to date invested approximately US$3.2 million in nine companies and is projecting a 15x return after the next funding round.
Its latest fund will have a focus on financial inclusion, education and healthcare. Investee companies will initially be located across Nigeria and Ghana, with the fund set to target the wider West Africa region.
The Constant Ventures fund enables investment either directly in talented entrepreneurs and compelling startups across West Africa or through its proprietary venture studio, which serves as a catalyst to combine best-in-class entrepreneurs, ideas and capital to quickly build winning startups.
“We are very excited to be announcing this fund today. It has been a decade in the making, the result of deep-dive research and due diligence in anticipation of this moment when we knew that advances in information technology would enable startups across West Africa to commercially address real societal needs,” said Ike Echeruo, chairman of the Constant Group and co-founder and managing partner of Constant Ventures.
“Technology was always going to provide the answer to so many of the critical issues faced by millions of people across Africa today. We are now on the cusp of a paradigm shift with recent advances across information technology presenting a unique investment window. We have looked at what has worked in other geographies. Now, refined and optimised for Africa, we have modelled a fund to invest in businesses that will both improve the lives of millions of people and deliver outstanding returns for investors.”
