P1 Ventures closes $50mn to invest in Africa

P1 Ventures, a Pan-African Seed venture capital fund, recently announced the successful first close of its new $50 million fund dedicated to investing in exceptional African founders and companies focusing on transformational software businesses. Hisham Halbouny, General Partner at P1 Ventures, spoke exclusively with CNBC Africa's Julius Bizimungu to discuss the fund's strategic direction and investment focus. Halbouny highlighted Kenya's role as a talent hub in East Africa, with many aspiring entrepreneurs leveraging the country as a launchpad before expanding into neighboring regions such as Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. He emphasized the increasing global attention on Kenya's thriving tech ecosystem, noting that half of the recent 300 investors attending a Kauffman Fellows event in Kenya were visiting Africa for the first time. Drawing parallels to Kenya's groundbreaking mobile payment system, M-Pesa, Halbouny underscored Africa's potential for leapfrogging traditional business trajectories, especially in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and software development. He expressed confidence in Africa's ability to drive innovation and export cutting-edge technologies globally. Discussing the fund's structure and investment strategy, Halbouny emphasized P1 Ventures' commitment to empowering diverse founders solving real-world problems with superior products. The fund focuses on equity investments in early-stage companies, prioritizing quality over quantity. By maintaining a concentrated portfolio of around 20 companies, P1 Ventures aims to provide personalized support and strategic guidance to maximize growth potential. Halbouny revealed that P1 Ventures primarily targets seed-stage investments, with initial ticket sizes ranging up to a million dollars. The fund is prepared to double down on successful portfolio companies, potentially investing up to $3 million over subsequent rounds. In terms of sectoral focus, fintech, software as a service (SaaS), insurtech, and e-commerce emerged as key areas of interest for P1 Ventures, reflecting Africa's evolving tech landscape. Overall, P1 Ventures' ambitious $50 million fund signals a significant commitment to fostering tech innovation and entrepreneurship across Africa. With a keen eye on emerging trends and a hands-on approach to supporting founders, the fund is poised to drive transformative growth and propel Africa to the forefront of the global tech industry.