Paris-based venture capital firm Breega has announced the establishment of its inaugural African fund, Breega Africa Seed I, with an initial closing of $75 million. This new fund will focus on early-stage investments in innovative startups across the continent.
The $75 million will be allocated to various regions according to their level of technological advancement and startup activity. Countries like Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya are among the primary targets, along with several French-speaking nations such as Morocco, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Breega’s strategy includes building local teams to embed itself within regional startup ecosystems. As part of this approach, the firm plans to open offices in Nigeria and South Africa to enhance its presence and connections within these key markets.
The fund will focus on sectors aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including agrotech, edtech, healthtech, fintech, insurtech, proptech, and logistics, all of which are seen as critical for driving growth and solving key challenges across Africa.
Breega has an established track record, having closed its first fund in 2015. Over the past nine years, the firm has raised $700 million in assets under management and invested in over 100 startups across 15 countries. With a growing footprint, Breega has also expanded its operations, with offices in key markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
Breega’s move to support African startups follows previous investments in companies like Numida, Socium, Klasha, Kwara, Coachbit, and Sava, where the firm provided hands-on scaling assistance through its internal team.
Leading the new fund is Melvyn Lubega, co-founder of the African digital education platform Go1, who will partner with Tosin Faniro-Dada, former CEO of Endeavor Nigeria and founder of Lagos Innovates, a startup incubator. Lubega emphasized Africa’s untapped potential, pointing out that despite accounting for 18% of the world’s population, the continent only receives about 1% of global funding, leaving many tech opportunities unrealized.
Tosin Faniro-Dada also highlighted the increasing entrepreneurial spirit across Africa, noting that there is a growing wave of ambition and innovation. He expressed excitement about supporting the continent’s entrepreneurs, whose solutions aim to address the region’s most pressing challenges.
“We’re inspired by the drive of Africa’s entrepreneurs to find impactful solutions,” Faniro-Dada said. “This new fund will help them scale with the backing they need to succeed.”
