Partech raises €245 million for second Africa fund

Parisian investor Partech has announced an initial €245 million close for its second AfricaTech LP vehicle, surpassing its overall funds target of €230 million.

Partech Africa II's LP roster includes media group Bertelsmann and an African equity fund-of-funds: South Suez Capital. Germany's KfW also subscribed to the fund together with fellow development financiers from across Europe and globally: the EU's  European Investment Bank, the World Bank's IFC,  and Dutch development bank FMO, as well as British International Investment, Bpifrance Investissement, Proparco, and DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft.

Partech Africa II will typically invest $1 million to $15 million per initial funding ticket, entering startup share capital anywhere from seed to growth stage. Notably, the fund's investment remit is larger than the first vehicle, which deployed €0.5 million to €5 million per initial ticket ($418,000 - $4.2 million at contemporary exchange rates).

The first €125 million Partech Africa fund launched in 2018 and has since backed 17 African startups in nine countries.

With its successor exceeding its expectations funding-wise, it seems African VC is garnering more global attention than in previous years.

The Partech Africa fund portfolio was responsible for attracting 10% of Africa's total VC spend in 2021 and last year. It has looked to strengthen its reputation by publishing in-depth data reports on Africa's VC and tech ecosystem, making available insights into specific African markets.

With the second fund vintage, Partech's partners had originally expected to lure €230 million at most, and the fundraising had a hard cap of €280 million.

Partech Africa's general manager, Cyril Collon, commented: "We overreached it with a closed amount already above the target fund size.

"This would not have been possible without the trust and the support from our major existing investors. We are honoured that top-tier global institutions and strategic commercial investors have decided to back Partech Africa II.”

The fund's general partner, Tidjane Dème, added "With Partech Africa II, our investment thesis is actually to pursue the successful strategy of our first fund.”

"We launched this strategy when less than $400M were invested annually in equity on the continent. African tech companies are now raising $6B annually validating our early commitment beyond any expectations. Still, we know there are many more champions to build in Africa and we are ready to support them.”