# Novastar Ventures

> Novastar Ventures is a VC fund in Nairobi backing Agriculture and Health Care. See 68 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Nairobi, Kenya
- Total investments: 68
- Last investment: Jan 2026
- Lead investor: 47%
- Fund size: $108M
- Last fund: Apr 2020
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/13645352/
- Website: http://www.novastarventures.com

Novastar Ventures is a VC fund in Nairobi focused on Agriculture and Health Care. Novastar is a venture catalyst firm assisting the next generation of exceptional entrepreneurs who are designing and executing innovative business models to profitably serve East Africa’s aspiring mass market.These ‘New Stars’ are the catalysts for innovation, accountability, efficiency and the accumulation of wealth for the common good.While they are managing a pool of capital, they do not think of their selves primarily as fund managers. The fun and focus of their work is partnering with entrepreneurs to help bring ideas to life and multiply their impact.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Novastar Ventures. Shizune tracks 6 team members at Novastar Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/novastar-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $1.7M–$24M |
| Series B | $3.5M–$42M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Agriculture | 6 | 9% |
| Health Care | 4 | 6% |
| FinTech | 3 | 4% |
| Internet | 3 | 4% |
| Logistics | 3 | 4% |

80 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 18 | 26% |
| Series B | 13 | 19% |
| Funding Round | 13 | 19% |
| Seed | 5 | 7% |
| Series C | 5 | 7% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kenya | 15 | 22% |
| Nigeria | 4 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 4% |
| United States | 2 | 3% |
| Egypt | 1 | 1% |

9 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Abel Boreto | Associate Investment Director | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/abel-boreto-19c6 |
| Andrew Carruthers | Co-Founder & Managing Partner | 16 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/andrew-carruthers |
| Nghi Tran | In-House Counsel | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nghi-tran |
| Oluwatoyin Emmanuel-Olubake | Investment Director | 2 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/oluwatoyin-emmanuel-olubake-fd4d |
| Steve Beck | Co-Founder and Managing Director | 12 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/steve-beck-3 |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MAX | Max addresses the last-mile delivery and online-retail problems by using mobile and web platforms to connect consumers, retail businesses, and independent drivers in real-time. They are eliminating all logistics and technology barriers that have historically prevented retail businesses in Africa from realizing their full potential. | $24M | Series B | Jan 16, 2026 |  |
| Chowdeck | Chowdeck is a food delivery service and marketplace to buy meals from a wide range of restaurants. | $15.4M | Series A | Aug 11, 2025 |  |
| Breadfast | Breadfast delivers household essentials, bakeries, groceries, fruits, veggies, and more than 3,000 items in minutes. | $10M | Series B | Jul 30, 2025 |  |
| BasiGo | BasiGo is an e-mobility start-up looking to revolutionize the public transportation sector by providing public transport bus owners with a cost-effective electric alternative to diesel.The company offers electric buses for public transportation in Kenya and Rwanda, operating on a pay-as-you-go model. his model includes maintenance and batterycharging, making it easier for bus operators to transition to electric vehicles. | $24M | Series A | Oct 23, 2024 |  |
| BasiGo | BasiGo is an e-mobility start-up looking to revolutionize the public transportation sector by providing public transport bus owners with a cost-effective electric alternative to diesel.The company offers electric buses for public transportation in Kenya and Rwanda, operating on a pay-as-you-go model. his model includes maintenance and batterycharging, making it easier for bus operators to transition to electric vehicles. | $24M | Series A | Oct 23, 2024 |  |
| BasiGo | BasiGo is an e-mobility start-up looking to revolutionize the public transportation sector by providing public transport bus owners with a cost-effective electric alternative to diesel.The company offers electric buses for public transportation in Kenya and Rwanda, operating on a pay-as-you-go model. his model includes maintenance and batterycharging, making it easier for bus operators to transition to electric vehicles. | $6.6M | Seed | Nov 15, 2022 |  |
| MoKo Home + Living | MoKo Home + Living specializes in is the manufacturing and retailing of home furniture products. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. | $3.5M | Series B | Oct 13, 2022 |  |
| Turaco | Turaco develops simplified insurance and credit solutions through mobile technology to solve the healthcare financing needs. Turaco has simplified insurance products and also provides on-demand health loans, allowing customers to get healthcare at affordable monthly premiums. | $10M | Series A | Aug 31, 2022 |  |
| iProcure | iProcure is a Nairobi-based start-up working to optimize the agriculture input supply chain in rural Kenya. iProcure’s web and mobile technology solution improves agriculture retailers’ operations. It lets them manage ordering based on inventory, point of sale activities, and client profiles along with geo-located purchasing patterns, real-timeagent performance and transaction analysis, and built-in mobile payments. As a result, retailers can better predict demand with business intelligence data, improve inventory management, and streamline distribution efficiency. | $9M | Series B | Aug 18, 2022 |  |
| iProcure | iProcure is a Nairobi-based start-up working to optimize the agriculture input supply chain in rural Kenya. iProcure’s web and mobile technology solution improves agriculture retailers’ operations. It lets them manage ordering based on inventory, point of sale activities, and client profiles along with geo-located purchasing patterns, real-timeagent performance and transaction analysis, and built-in mobile payments. As a result, retailers can better predict demand with business intelligence data, improve inventory management, and streamline distribution efficiency. | $9M | Series B | Aug 18, 2022 |  |

10 of 68 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [British International Investment](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cdc-group) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Bossa Invest](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bossanova-investimentos) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Lightrock](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lightrock) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Acumen](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/acumen-fund) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [AfricInvest](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/afric-invest) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Ceniarth](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ceniarth-2) — VC Fund, 4 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Novastar Ventures invest in?

Novastar Ventures invests primarily in Agriculture, Health Care and FinTech startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 68 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Kenya. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Novastar Ventures's check size?

Novastar Ventures typically joins rounds of $1.7M–$24M at Series A and $3.5M–$42M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Novastar Ventures participates in.

### How do I contact Novastar Ventures?

Public channels for Novastar Ventures include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Novastar Ventures?

The team at Novastar Ventures includes Abel Boreto (Associate Investment Director), Andrew Carruthers (Co-Founder & Managing Partner) and Nghi Tran (In-House Counsel), among 6 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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