Africa’s Unicorn Hunter: Understanding Launch Africa’s criteria for funding Startups

In 2023, startups all over the world raised $285 billion. If we narrow it down by region and I asked you to guess the percentage of that money that found its way to Africa - what would be your guess? Seven percent? Heck maybe twelve percent? The more optimistic among you would hope that it’s as high as even 20% right? Well, the reality on the ground is much different. An estimated $4bn found its way to Africa - a paltry 1.5% of the total disclosed startup funding.

This clear funding gap is what motivated Zachariah George and Janade Du Plessis to unveil Launch Africa - a fund with the primary objective of unlocking the capital constraints of Seed Stage tech startups in 2020. 

“Launch Africa Fund I was launched In October 2020 and over an 18-month period raised a total of US$36.3mn in capital from 238 investors across 40 different countries worldwide. These investors included individuals, family offices, corporate venture funds and fund-of-funds.”

Zachariah George and Janade Du Plessis to AfriSpective by AVCA

The fund has quickly established itself as one of the most prolific sources of capital on the continent - dishing out 142 investments (38 of those as the lead investor) before reaching its fourth year of operation. In previous interviews, the founding partners expressed that there is a unique opportunity in early-stage funding because founders in Africa do not have access to savings, friends/family money or exposure to an angel investor market.