VC firm TLcom Capital closes $71 mn funding; plans investment in 12 startups

February 18, 2020: Venture capital firm TLcom Capital closed its Tide Africa Fund at $71 million with plans to make up to 12 startup investments over the next 18 months.

TLcom Capital will focus primarily on startups in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa but is also eyeing rising markets, such as Ethiopia.

The group is looking for tech-enabled, revenue-driven ventures in Africa from seed-stage to Series B, according to TLcom Managing Partner Maurizio Caio, reports TechCrunch.

TLcom’s team includes Zimbabwean partner Andreata Muforo and senior partner Omobola Johnson, Nigeria’s former minister of communication technology.

TLcom claims to identify African startups that have strong founders before investing and backing off, trusting in the startup’s leadership rather than becoming too involved in the day-to-day operations.

Before joining TLcom, Muforo worked as a transaction manager at Horizon Africa Capital Ltd, a boutique M&A firm in Nairobi, and as an investment officer in the private sector department of the African Development Bank based in Tunisia.

Johnson, a senior partner at TLcom, is based in Lagos and sits on the boards of Andela and Kobo360. Before becoming a venture capitalist, she was Nigeria’s minister of communication technology from 2011 to 2015, focusing on the launch and execution of the national broadband plan and the support of the Nigerian tech industry.

The firm has offices in Lagos, Nairobi, and London.

“We are bullish on supporting and investing in tech-enabled African companies due to the opportunities for value generation that they provide. We are known for being an entrepreneur-led VC firm that values Africa-centric innovation, strong leadership teams and businesses who are solving real challenges in the market,” said Omobola in a statement emailed to Moguldom.

In 2017, TLcom was involved in a $40 million funding round for Andela, a startup that trains and outsources African engineers and coders to work for global firms. The VC firm also has a stake in Kenyan customer experience platform Ajua and Nigerian education tech startup uLesson.

In 2019, TLcom made a $5 million investment in Nigeria’s Terragon Group and $30 million funding for both Nigerian logistics firm Kobo360 and Kenyan supply chain startup Twiga Foods.