Saviu Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm with a dedicated focus on startups in Francophone Africa, has successfully reached an initial close of €12 million for its second fund. The funding round received strong support from private investors, including notable French and Kenyan family offices. Co-founded by Benoit Delestre and Samuel Touboul, Saviu Ventures is now poised to further develop and empower the burgeoning startup ecosystem in the Francophone region.
The venture capital firm, active in the Francophone Africa startup landscape since 2018, began its journey with the deployment of its first fund amounting to €10 million. With the current fund, Saviu Ventures plans to extend its investment primarily in fintechs, health-techs, and climate-techs. Notably, the firm will slightly reduce its focus on e-mobility, e-commerce, and e-logistics.
In an exclusive interview with TechCrunch, Benoit Delestre stated, “We will follow the same strategy of our first fund, where the majority of our investment will go to startups in the Francophone region. But we still keep the opportunity to invest in East, Southern, and North Africa startups that are keen on expanding to Francophone Africa.”
Saviu Ventures intends to allocate the funds by investing between €500,000 and €3 million in 15 to 20 post-revenue startups. The focus remains on sustainable companies, and the venture capital firm goes beyond financial investment by providing comprehensive business development support to its portfolio businesses.
The second fund has already made strategic investments in promising startups, including Waspito, a health-tech company based in Cameroon; Rubyx, a digital lending SaaS provider from Senegal; and Workpay, an HR-payroll solutions provider.
Samuel Touboul emphasized Saviu Ventures’ commitment to sustainable businesses, stating, “We are looking for sustainable businesses. We don’t want to target unicorns because we are not interested in businesses or business models that insist on burning cash. Our belief is in supporting talented entrepreneurs building sustainable businesses.”
Saviu Ventures’ first fund, totaling between €250,000 and €500,000, was invested in 12 startups, with 82% of them originating from the Francophone region. The diverse portfolio includes companies like Anka (Afrikrea), an e-commerce platform; Julaya, an Ivorian neobank; Zanifu, a Kenyan digital lender; Lapaire, an eyewear retailer with operations in Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Togo; and Paps, a Senegalese e-logistics startup.
The strategic focus on the Francophone region sets Saviu Ventures apart, making it one of the pioneering venture capital firms specifically targeting this ecosystem. The Francophone region is gaining increased attention from investors due to factors such as lower competition, a vast market opportunity, and high-quality, attractively priced deals compared to more mature Anglophone regions.
According to the 2022 Partech report, the Francophone region accounted for 49% and 38% of the rest of Africa’s deals and funding, respectively, last year. Despite the challenges, the region remains a compelling investment destination. Notably, equity funding in the region remained nearly flat last year, following a significant 695% year-on-year growth in 2021.
Benoit Delestre reflected on the evolving landscape, stating, “The ecosystem in francophone Africa is now much more developed than it was in 2018 when there were fewer founders and no incubators. It’s still very far from what you see in Kenya or South Africa, but it is much better now.”
Saviu Ventures’ successful initial close of €12 million positions it strongly to continue its mission of fostering sustainable businesses, supporting talented entrepreneurs, and contributing to the growth and development of the vibrant startup ecosystem in Francophone Africa. The ongoing talks with other stakeholders, including institutional investors, aim to propel the fund toward its ultimate target of €30 million to €50 million, further solidifying Saviu Ventures’ pivotal role in the region’s startup landscape.
