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Key Points
- Startupbootcamp, Mara Group, and Blend Financial Services launch a $250-million fund to support emerging tech companies in Africa.
- The fund targets key tech ecosystems in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Egypt, with investments set to begin within six months.
- Ashish Thakkar aims to scale African startups by providing early and later-stage capital, fueling growth from angel investments to pre-IPO rounds.
Startupbootcamp has partnered with East African entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar’s Mara Group and Blend Financial Services to create a $250-million fund aimed at supporting emerging technology companies in Africa.
This collaboration represents a bold push to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship across the continent.
The fund, which is in its final stages of securing additional backing from development institutions, plans to start making investments in the next three to six months.
Thakkar, speaking in an interview, revealed that discussions are ongoing with several stakeholders to increase the fund’s financial support.
Targeting key tech ecosystems in Africa
The new initiative was finalized at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Saudi Arabia last week, marking a significant milestone for the partnership.
The fund will focus on startup hubs in countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Egypt—regions that are home to some of the continent’s most dynamic tech ecosystems.
Africa’s tech-driven entrepreneurial activity is growing rapidly, fueled by the continent’s young, tech-savvy population. Cities like Cape Town, Nairobi, and Ebene, Mauritius, have become hotspots for startups, addressing infrastructure gaps with innovative solutions.
Research by New World Wealth and software developer Platform45 highlights this rising trend, underscoring the role technology plays in shaping Africa’s economic future.
Thakkar's vision for scaling African startups
“We’ve done extensive angel investing as a family, but the lack of scale made it challenging,” Thakkar said. “This fund allows us to build a more impactful platform that can fuel both early-stage and pre-IPO funding rounds for African startups.”
The fund’s strategy includes not only early-stage capital injections but also later-stage investments, offering a path to scaling the initiative further in the future.
Startupbootcamp and Mara Group’s track record
Startupbootcamp, founded in 2010, is one of the world’s leading industry-focused accelerator networks, with over 80 accelerators across four continents.
The network has supported a portfolio valued at €5.6 billion ($6 billion) and remains a pioneering force in global startup incubation.
Mara Group, established in 1996 by Thakkar, has grown from an IT company in Uganda to a diversified conglomerate with operations in manufacturing, real estate, agriculture, and IT across 24 African countries.
Thakkar, also the co-founder of Atlas Mara Ltd., a pan-African banking group, has built Mara into a key player in Africa’s economic transformation, focusing on sustainable growth through global partnerships and local expertise.
