FUNDING | TLcom Announces Close of Second Early-Stage Fund at $154 Million – Expands Mandate to Egypt

TLcom Capital, a venture capital firm with a focus on Africa, has announced the successful closure of its Tide Africa II early-stage fund, securing a total of $154 million.

“Confirming TLcom Capital’s status as Africa’s largest Seed and Series A investor, the new fund accelerates the firm’s mission to partner with elite founders to tackle Africa’s biggest and most complex challenges with innovative solutions that will unlock massive value in the continent’s critical sectors,” the VC said.

Founded in 1999 and with offices in Lagos, Nairobi and London, TLcom Capital has $350 million of assets under management across Africa and Europe. The firm is Africa’s largest Seed and Series A investor, and it has now confirmed with the close of the oversubscribed TIDE Africa Fund II.

TIDE Africa II sees participation from several new, high-profile LPs alongside returning LPs from the firm’s first Africa-focused fund, TIDE Africa Fund I, closed in 2020. These include:

• The European Investment Bank (EIB)
• Allianz and DEG Impact’s joint venture AfricaGrow
• VISA Foundation. and
• Bertelsmann

With this second fund, TLcom Capital maintains its early-stage, multi-sector focus and expands its mandate beyond Sub-Saharan Africa to Egypt.

TIDE Africa Fund II will make initial investments of $1 million to $3 million, maintaining significant follow-on capacity to support strong portfolio performers into their growth stages where the fund continues to see massive upside potential.

The fund has already made its first investments in South Africa and Egypt with LittleFish, a software company enabling payments and banking products for retail-focused SMBs, headquartered in Cape Town, and ILLA, a middle-mile logistics platform headquartered in Cairo.

“TLcom now counts among a small number of venture capital firms that have raised multiple substantial funds for technology in Africa. This is a testament to the quality of our team and the trust we’ve established with our limited partners. It’s also a major endorsement of our long-term view on Africa’s massive upside,” said Maurizio Caio, Founder and Managing Partner at TLcom Capital.

“We are maintaining the same investment strategy for TIDE Africa Fund II as we had for our first fund, which made over 80% of its investments at Seed or Series A. With this final close, we’re thrilled that TLcom is in an even stronger position to continue to partner with Africa’s most talented entrepreneurs from early in their company-building journeys.

We’re also excited to spend more time in the Egyptian ecosystem, co-investing alongside the most active local funds. TLcom is well on its way to realising our ambition of becoming Africa’s most sought-after early-stage VC and a truly pan-African firm.”

TLcom Capital supports a number of the continent’s fastest-growing startups including:

• uLesson
• AutoChek
• Twiga Foods
• Ajua
• Kobo360
• Ilara Health
• Pula
• FairMoney
• Andela