African venture capital firm Janngo Capital closed its second fund at €73 million, or around $78 million, 20 percent more than the initial target of €60 million or around $63 million.
The firm had marked the first close of the fund at €26 million way back in 2022 after roping in limited partners such as the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and European Investment Bank (EIB).

Both anchor investors also joined the fund's second close, Janngo Capital founder Fatoumata Bâ told TechCrunch. Other institutional investors joined as well, including three that have an African mandate: Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, Tunisian fund of funds ANAVA, and the endowment fund of Ghana-based university Ashesi University. The U.S International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) also invested.

Development finance institutions such as DFC and IFC have been important actors in building the startup ecosystem in Africa through investments in local funds that eventually go on to fund early- and growth-stage startups. However, local institutional investors are still quite shy, so efforts by firms such as Janngo to introduce local capital are helpful to signal confidence to foreign investors.

Africa accounts for 17% of the world's population but attracts only 1%-2% of global VC funding-a share that hasn't grown despite increasing from $150 million raised a decade ago to around $4 billion-$5 billion today, Bâ said. "If we believe tech is critical to economic development in Africa, we should have proportional access to VC.". That is why it was not about hitting a target or getting oversubscription because I was particularly interested in attracting private LPs, especially African LPs.

The firm stylizes itself as a "gender equal" investor, and it has so far lived up to its name. To date, 56 percent of the portfolio across both funds belong to startups founded or led by women, among them Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform Sabi, whose CEO is female.

Our thesis has not changed. We've proven it through exits such as Expensya, where we were the first VC on their cap table. And being a female-founded, female-led, and predominantly female-owned fund, investing in female entrepreneurs ranks pretty high on our scale of priority," Bâ added.

This focus is vital because while Africa boasts the world's highest rate of female entrepreneurship, only an infinitesimal share of VC funding destined for the planet flows toward female founders. So it was imperative to demonstrate to ourselves that such a thesis—capital directing toward diversified founders, early-stage venture capital, and sectors that go beyond just fintech—can bring about this impact.

This fund when it first achieved its hard close two years ago targeted to invest into 25 companies. However, now that the additional money is in, the firm will invest in another 10 to 15 companies over the next five years, said Bâ. The firm expects its portfolio to have between 25 and 40 companies, and as for the second fund, will not stray from the firm's seed to Series B focus. VC takes 15% to 30% ownership in the startups.

Since launching its first fund in 2018, Janngo has made over 30 investments in 21 startups, sometimes even following through on follow-on Series B rounds. Its first fund had around $10 million, and it seeded 11 companies, including Expensya and Sabi. The firm doubled down in both startups' Series B rounds with its second fund.

Janngo invests in start-ups working on healthcare, logistics, financial services, retail, agritech, mobility, and the creator economy from an investment ticket ranging between €150,000 and €5 million. The company also operates in Abidjan, Mauritius, Tunis and Paris.