Development Partners International LLP (“DPI”) is announcing the launch of DPI Venture Capital, which will target investments in early-stage, growth-orientated technology businesses across Africa.
DPI has identified a unique opportunity to support early-stage companies and expand its strategy of investing in companies that positively impact the growing middle class in Africa. DPI has an eighteen-year track record of supporting growing innovation-led businesses, and its existing portfolio is embracing digitisation to improve access to a range of goods and services for Africa’s growing population. DPI Venture Capital will be supported by the firm’s reach in over 43 African countries and its investments across nearly a dozen sectors, including technology-driven businesses.
The launch coincides with the completion of a fund restructuring transaction by which DPI commenced advising the Nclude Innovation Fund LP (“Nclude”), a leading fintech fund in Egypt. With the completion of that transaction DPI has taken over the investment advisory responsibilities of the Fund which is the largest fintech-focused fund in Africa. Since its establishment in March 2022, Nclude has invested over $28 million across nine transactions, including companies such as Paymob, Khazna, Flapkap, and Connect Money. Nclude is backed by LPs from Egypt’s largest national banks, including Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, and Banque du Caire and joined by financial services-focused LPs e-Finance Investment Group, EBC, and Mastercard. Nclude was launched with the support of the Central Bank of Egypt. Nclude has the ability to invest up to 30% of its commitments into deals in the wider Middle East and Africa region to help such companies expand into Egypt.
Egypt is a priority market for DPI. The organisation has invested nearly $850 million in Egypt in the last decade and has seen the power of digitisation via portfolio companies such as MNT Halan and Kazyon. With DPI becoming the investment adviser of Nclude, the firm will now advise the entirety of the Fund’s US$105 million of assets under management. DPI is striving to ensure that the fund contributes towards building a thriving FinTech ecosystem in Egypt and increasing financial inclusion in the country.
The launch of DPI Venture Capital and the completion of the Nclude transaction cement DPI’s position as the premier Africa-focused private investment adviser and advance the firm’s ambitions to provide clients with a range of opportunities to impactfully invest in Africa. DPI Venture Capital is being led by Managing Partner Ashley Lewis and includes an experienced team of venture capital professionals, including Mohamed Aladdin, who has joined the team as a General Partner.
Runa Alam, DPI Co-Founder and CEO, said, “By establishing DPI Venture Capital, DPI has fulfilled its long-standing ambition to provide investors with a range of investment strategies in Africa. The platform provides our limited partners with the opportunity to invest in Africa’s most exciting companies from their very beginning. The completion of the Nclude transaction is an opportunity to build on the success of our previous investments in technology-led companies and will empower our investors to add exposure to highly innovative growth-orientated businesses.”
Ashley Lewis, Managing Partner at DPI Venture Capital, said: “The African venture capital ecosystem is still underpenetrated and there is a fantastic opportunity for Africa-focused fund sponsors to make a significant impact on the ecosystem. DPI Venture Capital is excited to welcome the Nclude team, portfolio companies, and LPs to DPI and to expand on their experience and close relationships with Egypt’s leading investors and tech visionaries.”