This brings the firm’s total assets under management (AUM) to $250 million, a commendable achievement for the Washington, D.C.-based investment firm.

Founded in 2016, AAF has built a reputation for identifying early winners in global tech and innovation. The firm has made 138 direct investments and supported 39 emerging managers across 43 fund vintages. 

Its portfolio has already produced five unicorns, Jasper, Current, Flutterwave, Drata, and Hello Heart, alongside 20 successful exits, including TruOptik, MoneyLion, Even Financial, and Portfolium, with a combined enterprise value of $2 billion.

The Axis Fund represents AAF’s fourth vintage and is anchored by Mubadala Capital, as well as a network of family offices spanning the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. 

Other backers include general partners from major U.S.-based asset management firms, a multi-billion-dollar venture capital firm, and a publicly traded company.

What makes The Axis Fund unique is its data-driven strategy. AAF is leveraging its limited partner (LP) relationships with emerging managers to gain access to private market intelligence that isn’t publicly available on platforms like Crunchbase or CB Insights. 

This “data licensing” approach allows AAF to identify promising companies before they hit mainstream visibility.

So far, the fund has already invested in 25 pre-seed and seed funds and made five direct investments into early-stage and growth companies. Collectively, the fund’s underlying managers have exposure to around 800 venture-backed companies formed between 2021 and 2025.

Speaking on the fund’s approach, Kyle Hendrick, general partner and managing director, said: “Over the past decade, we have found that the richest dataset of private market companies at the earliest stages of their formation is accessed only through LP checks in emerging managers.

“With The Axis Fund, we are combining our fund-of-funds investing track record along with our Seed track record under one fund umbrella to generate the best risk-adjusted return for our LPs.”

Omar Darwazah, also general partner and managing director, described the model as both broad and selective: “Our two-pronged investing strategy allows our LPs to access a beta product, through the indexing of emerging managers, and an alpha product, through the picking of companies to back at the early stage.

“This strategy allows us to identify signal from noise and increase our probability of backing outliers – fund returners, 10x cash-on-cash returning companies and Seed to Unicorn investments.”

AAF’s model has earned it deep trust among partners and founders alike. Suzanne Fletcher, founder and general partner of Zelda Ventures, commended the firm’s hands-on partnership style:

“The AAF team has been an exceptional partner to Zelda Ventures, both as an investor in the firm’s Fund 1 and as a collaborative co-investor. They not only supported us early but have also continued to engage meaningfully, from investing alongside us in Okahu to flagging opportunities like Originalis.

“AAF’s approach of backing managers and then investing alongside them truly delivers on their mission to build enduring partnerships.”

Similarly, Zaid Rahman, founder and CEO of Flex, noted AAF’s long-term engagement:

“AAF has been an exceptional partner to us. They began building a relationship with me and the company nearly two years before investing. Flex was originally sourced through their LP check in 305 Ventures, and since then, AAF has participated in our Series A and every subsequent financing round.

“We’re excited to continue working with them as both capital formation and business development partners, leveraging their global LP network and deep connectivity across the MENA region.”

AAF’s earlier funds, a $25 million Fund I (2017), a $39 million Fund II (2021), and a $32 million proprietary fund-of-funds vehicle, have always ranked in the top decile for Net TVPI compared with benchmarks from Cambridge Associates and Carta.

With The Axis Fund focused on early-stage startups, AAF is doubling down on its core belief that access and insight drive performance in private markets. Its blend of fund-of-funds and direct investment strategies will support early-stage capital deployment, encompassing patience, information depth, and genuine partnership.

The seed funding, which will also facilitate the expansion of Curacel into North Africa, included Tencent, AAF Management (invested in Sure, Flutterwave), Elefund (invested in Robinhood, Pie Insurance and Sure), Blue Pointe Capital Management,  Pioneer Fund, Olive Tree Capital and Y Combinator, as well as James Park (CEO of Fitbit), Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola (CEO of Flutterwave), Babs Ogundeyi (CEO of Kuda) and other strategic investors. Top executives from Covergenius, Zopper and Pie Insurance will also join Curacel’s advisory board as part of the round.

The combination of a fast growing population, a rising middle class and increasing access to financial services across the continent means more Africans have the opportunity to experience a wider range of products and services.

From buying cars to accessing accommodation, these experiences come with various risks and insurance companies play a huge role in making it easier to manage the risks and enjoy these experiences with confidence. However, with insurance penetration across the continent still under 3 percent, many Africans are having to take on these entirely by themselves. 

At the same time, the paper-based approach and antiquated technology that powers many insurers’ processes is time-consuming, unduly expensive and prone to fraud and waste. African insurers lose more than $12 billion per year to fraudulent, wasteful and abusive claims, which makes them understandably cautious and risk-averse with the customer they choose to serve. 

Curacel makes it easier for insurers to distribute their products, automate their claims processes, and drive revenue growth by giving them easy-to-use technology solutions that have been specifically designed to drive up insurance inclusion on the continent. With Grow, Curacel’s embedded insurance product, more than 100 banks, fintechs, logistics companies and other tech-enabled companies, including ALAT (Nigeria’s first digital bank), Providus, PalmPay, Float, etc and others are empowered to increase their recurring revenues by offering digital insurance products that are seamlessly embedded into their existing products and services, driving much-needed insurance penetration and customer loyalty. 

Leading insurers like AXA Mansard, Liberty Health, Old Mutual and Jubilee Heath also leverage Curacel’s market leading technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their claims processes. The company’s AI-powered infrastructure means claims can be submitted and processed in real time, helping insurers to reduce their claims cycle by more than 70 percent and process up to 10x more claims. 

Curacel has processed more than $100 million worth of claims, working with more than 20 insurers and more than 5,000 service providers in 8 countries across the continent. In 2022, Curacel grew its transaction volume by 600 percent and increased its revenue by 500 percent. Starting with Egypt and Morocco, the new funding will enable the company to roll out its services in North Africa and deepen its presence in other parts of the continent.

According to Henry Mascot, CEO and co-founder of Curacel, “We are bullish on the potential of the right technology in the right places to close the protection gap across Africa and emerging markets. It is an exciting time for us as we secure the capital to deliver the vision and onboard the people who have built these technologies at scale in more mature markets, and we are looking forward to delivering more technology solutions to drive up insurance inclusion.”‍

Omar Darwazah, Managing Director and General Partner at AAF Management, said “at less than 3%, the insurance penetration rate in Africa is one of the lowest in the world, presenting an incredible market opportunity for Henry and the team at Curacel to bridge that insurance gap. We are excited to participate in the company’s Seed round and join Curacel’s mission in building easy-to-use technology solutions for insurers to distribute their products on the continent.” 

Serik Kaldykulov, General Partner at Elefund, said “Africa remains a relatively untapped market when it comes to insurance and technology presents the best opportunity to reach new users and deliver excellent services. Curacel has built a suite of solutions and an impressive track record of success that makes us very excited to be supporting them on their mission to use technology to drive up insurance inclusion in Africa.”