This second iteration of Partech’s Africa-focused strategy is backed by major Development Finance Institutions, as well as Institutional and Commercial investors. 

Partech Africa II will double-down on its successful strategy to identify and support the next generation of category leaders across the continent. 

The Fund will provide $1 million to $15 million initial tickets from Seed to Growth to support entrepreneurs who use a combination of technology and excellent operations to address some of the hard-to-solve but very large opportunities the continent offers across all sectors.

“We had set an ambitious goal for Partech Africa II at €230M, with a hard cap at €280M, essentially doubling the size of our first fund. We overreached it with a closed amount already above the target fund size.” comments Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech Africa. “This would not have been possible without the trust and the support from our major existing investors. We are honoured that top-tier global institutions and strategic commercial investors have decided to back Partech Africa II.”

The Fund can rely on a diversified and international set of investors with all major DFIs, including anchor investor KfW, the German Development Bank, joined by European Investment Bank (EIB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, Bpifrance Investissement, British International Investment (BII), DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and Proparco, as well as commercial investors such as South Suez and Bertelsmann.

“With Partech Africa II, our investment thesis is actually to pursue the successful strategy of our first fund.” explains Tidjane Dème, General Partner at Partech Africa. “We launched this strategy when less than $400 million were invested annually in equity on the continent. African tech companies are now raising $6 billion annually validating our early commitment beyond any expectations. Still, we know there are many more champions to build in Africa and we are ready to support them.”

In 2018, Partech announced the launch of its Africa-focused strategy with a first Fund of €125 million. Today, the portfolio counts 17 companies started in 9 African countries and now operating in 27 countries on the continent. These category leaders are bringing value to 1M+ merchants and 20M+ end users, across a large set of sectors from Fintech to Healthtech, Logistics and Edtech. This portfolio has attracted 10%+ of the investment in Africa in 2021 as well as in 2022. 

Building on the first fund’s learnings, Partech Africa will continue to lead and co-lead rounds with a larger ticket range ($1 million to 15 million), co-investing with the best regional and global players, playing an active role in bringing financial, strategic, and operational support to African founders. 

To execute on this strategy, the team, led by Cyril Collon and Tidjane Dème and comprised of Marie Benrubi, Sabrine Chahrour, Lewam Kefela, Matthieu Marchand, based in Dakar, Nairobi and Dubai, is expanding into new locations. It is augmented by Partech’s robust global platform with 3 members dedicated to Partech Africa: Romane Assou, Léa Gnaly and Alhou Maiga. This platform provides support across key functions such as Business Development & Portfolio Support, Founders Community, ESG, Finance, Compliance, and Legal.

This notable first close marks the launch of Partech Africa II and represents a solid vote of confidence in the African start-up ecosystem. After years of continuous growth, the African continent continue to attract even more global attention and capital.

With this funding, Reliance Health has successfully closed the largest Series B round in the African HealthTech industry to date.

Led by General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity investor, the round received participation from Partech, Picus Capital, Tencent Exploration, AAIC (Asia Africa Investment and Consulting), P1 Ventures, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, Arvantis Social Foundation Impact Investment, and M3, Inc.

The newly-established partnership also marks General Atlantic’s first technology investment in Africa. To date, Reliance Health has raised $48,000,000 in total funding, including a $6,000,000 Series A funding round in January 2020 led by Partech, with participation from Y Combinator, LoftyInc Capital, Golden Palm Investments, Picus Capital, and Ventures Platform.

Reliance Health uses technology to bring more affordable and accessible healthcare to leading companies in emerging markets including Biersdorf Nivea, Jumia, PWC, Merrybet, Regus, and others.

The company has averaged 3.5x YOY revenue growth and offers an integrated approach that includes flat fee healthcare plans, telemedicine, prescription delivery, and a combination of partner and proprietary healthcare facilities in one single platform with one single fee.

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and Austin, Texas, Reliance Health began operations in Nigeria in 2015 as a telemedicine-focused startup, Kangpe, founded by Femi Kuti, Opeyemi Olumekun, and Matthew Mayaki, and later expanded into a single-fee healthcare provider to better address the complex, evolving needs of patients.

This new Series B investment will accelerate Reliance Health’s efforts in expanding the platform in emerging markets around the world while adding new products that complement existing proprietary technology, facilities, and partnerships. Reliance will also leverage the funds to hire additional top talent.

“Healthcare in emerging markets is often overlooked by private initiatives because it’s an extremely complex challenge to solve. At Reliance Health, by leveraging new innovations to break the constraints of legacy solutions, we believe there is an opportunity to solve some of these tough problems and even for aspects of healthcare in emerging markets to leapfrog to other parts of the world. We are excited to work with our investors towards bringing affordability and accessibility in healthcare to underserved markets, ultimately saving lives around the world,” said Femi Kuti, Reliance Health CEO and co-founder.

“General Atlantic is thrilled to announce our first technology investment in Africa in Reliance Health, backing a team focused on improving healthcare quality for millions of patients in Nigeria and abroad,” said Chris Caulkin, head of EMEA Technology and managing director at General Atlantic. “We have been consistently impressed by Femi and Ope, who exemplify the entrepreneurialism and innovation we see across the African continent. We look forward to sharing our experience as a leading global growth equity investor in support of Reliance Health’s exciting and important mission.” 

“We led Reliance Health’s Series A because we saw a team that combines great vision with superb execution. They have proven this by delivering a product that is successful with large corporate as well as micro-businesses, opening up access to healthcare for underserved segments of the population. All of the Partech team feels proud and excited to see top global investors join the company as it scales in Nigeria as well as new markets,” said Tidjane Dème, general partner at Partech.

“Financial barriers prevent millions of people from receiving the life-saving and life-improving care that they need in low- and middle-income countries. Ensuring equitable access to healthcare coverage is something we care deeply about as mission-driven healthcare investors, and we’re honoured to partner with Femi Kuti and the entire Reliance Health team to help scale their offering to achieve the largest potential impact,” said Jeff Trost, managing partner at Laerdal Million Lives Fund.