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Top 25 Retail VC (Venture Capital) Funds in Kenya in January 2025

Last updated: Jan 2025 A list of 25 VC (Venture Capital) funds that invest in Retail startups based in Kenya. We rank investors based on the number of investments they made in Retail companies from Kenya. We update this investor list every month.

Top 25 Retail VC (Venture Capital) Funds in Kenya in January 2025

Investor	Retail Kenya investments
1776 Ventures	4
Samata Capital	2
Creadev	2
igniteXL Ventures	2
Musha Ventures	2
U.S. International Development Finance Corp	2
Beyond Capital Ventures	1
Chandaria Capital	1
FirstCheck Africa	1
Finnfund	1
Blink	1
Lateral Frontiers	1
Wamda Capital	1
Novastar Ventures	1
Blue Haven Initiative	1
Chui Ventures	1
FirstCheck Africa	1
DOB Equity	1
EQ2 Ventures	1
Victoria Commercial Bank	1
Future Africa	1
Loyal VC	1
Launch Africa	1
Omidyar Network	1
Antler	1

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Investor list

1776 Ventures is a global seed fund investing in companies in the following sectors: education, energy, smart cities, transportation, food/agriculture, fintech, and healthcare.

Investment focus

Education, EdTech, Software
Seed, Series A, Convertible Note
United States, Kenya, Brazil

Portfolio highlights

Swiftly — Harness your public transit data with Swiftly's urban mobility solutions to make your city's mass transportation move more efficiently.
HopSkipDrive — Arranging safe, dependable transportation or children ages 6+ with qualified caregivers
Clarametyx Biosciences — Clarametyx Biosciences is a late preclinical stage biotechnology company developing targeted, immune-enabling biologic therapies to counter persistent infections associated with biofilms.

CREATING a More Inclusive Future Samata Capital accelerates equal access to capital and opportunity for talented entrepreneurs in emerging markets. We inten ...

Investment focus

Beauty, Retail, Consumer
Seed, Series A
Kenya, Nigeria

Portfolio highlights

ReelFruit — On a mission to inspire delightfulness by offering the tastiest snacks in town.
Uncover — Experience nourishing and rejuvenating Uncover Skincare products in Kenya. Made just for you, using the finest ingredients to offer innovative & effective solutions.

Creadev is an evergreen investment company believe that shareholders' timing should match with the entrepreneur's vision, up to an unlimited amount of time. Creadev invest in and support companies able to scale-up and become worldwide best players in their sector.

Investment focus

Health Care, Food and Beverage, Agriculture
Series B, Series C, Funding Round
France, United States, China

Portfolio highlights

Ouihelp — Ouihelp is a developer of an online residential assistance platform designed to help seniors in their regular activities at home. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Paris, France.
Everytable — Everytable aims to redefine the food landscape the same way McDonald’s did fifty years ago. But this time, instead of burgers and fries, they are selling nutritious, fresh, made-from-scratch food, at fast-food prices.
InnovaFeed — InnovaFeed is a biotech company that produces a new source of protein from insect rearing (Hermetia illucens) for animal feed and aquaculture in particular.Their model is based on a unique technological expertise that allows us to place the insect at the heart of their agri-food system and restore it to its natural place in their ecosystem: thatof recycling nutrients to then feed fish, birds or small mammals.In the context of a fast-growing world population, InnovaFeed’s activity responds concretely and competitively to an increase in protein demand while contributing to the development of a more sustainable food system, in particular through the development of quality aquaculture.

WELLNESS TO THE WORLD igniteXL Ventures is a global seed fund investing in game-changing founders at the intersection of technology, beauty

Investment focus

Fashion, Beauty, Software
Seed, Pre-Seed, Funding Round
United States, South Korea, Kenya

Portfolio highlights

buywith — buywith is an online shopping Livestream marketplace for retailers & brands, where influencers and experts can broadcast online shopping sessions with their followers & make them buy via a highly engaging experience. We help brands generate more revenues from their e-commerce activity and increase their ROI.
Lion Pose — Daily Skincare Products for People of Color
Uncover — Experience nourishing and rejuvenating Uncover Skincare products in Kenya. Made just for you, using the finest ingredients to offer innovative & effective solutions.

Seed capital for technology startups globally.

Investment focus

Financial Services, Software, FinTech
Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
United States, Nigeria, Kenya

Portfolio highlights

Regfyl — Powered by AI, Regfyl is the all-in-one fraud and compliance platform for financial institutions and fintechs. Regfyl allows these businesses to reduce costs and focus on higher value activities.
Sukhiba — Sukhiba is a decentralized community-based commerce platform.
Orca Fraud — Orca empowers fraud fighters with effective tools to combat fraud

U.S. International Development Finance Corp is America’s development bank.

Investment focus

Financial Services, Finance, FinTech
Debt Financing, Post-IPO Debt, Funding Round
India, United States, Kenya

Portfolio highlights

BasiGo — BasiGo is an early-stage e-mobility start-up looking to revolutionize the public transportation sector by providing matatu owners with a cost-effective electric alternative to diesel buses.
Indorama Fertilizers — Indorama Fertilizers operates a world-class, 1.4 million metric tonnes per annum urea manufacturing facility based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The plant has been developed to global environmental, social and construction standards. It plays a key role in supporting the agricultural sector in Nigeria by providing a reliable supply of fertilizers forlocal farmers, thereby enabling import substitution and supporting the diversification needs of the Nigerian economy. Indorama Fertilizers is also advantageously located to serve neighboring West African countries and key Western hemisphere markets, including North America, South America and Europe
Institut Pasteur de Dakar — The Institut Pasteur de Dakar Foundation (IPD) is a non-profit association of public utility, concerned with promoting public health and well-being in West Africa. Since its founding in 1896 by one of Louis PASTEUR's disciples, Émile Marcoux, the IPD has been at the forefront of the fight against infectious diseases. Since 2009, the InstitutPasteur de Dakar has been a Senegalese foundation, jointly managed by the government of Senegal and the Institut Pasteur (Paris).

Beyond Capital Ventures is a venture capital firm, offering a diversified portfolio of companies in "need-to-have" sectors, led by conscious leaders.

Investment focus

E-Commerce, Retail, Health Care
Seed, Series A, Series B
Kenya, India, Ghana

Portfolio highlights

Zanifu — The zanifu platform, allows small retailers in Sub Saharan Africa, to procure inventory from their suppliers & pay later.
Ampersand — Ampersand catalyzes and power mass-market electric mobility. By supplying the battery swap network and operating system the company makes sustainable mobility rapidly accessible and affordable for developing markets, to improve livelihoods and the environment. With over a million km already covered by e-motorcycles in Africa using our plug-and-playpowertrain and energy network.
Lapaire — Discover a wide range of high-quality & affordable eyeglasses at Lapaire Glasses. Book a free vision test with our professional optometrists to help you find your perfect pair of glasses to enhance your vision and style. Shops in 7 african countries: Benin, Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Kenya and Uganda.

Chandaria Capital operates as a venture capital Fund. We believe that innovative ideas will transform Africa. We invest, mentor, and work together with incredible entrepreneurs to create impactful companies that can change the continent.

Investment focus

E-Commerce, Retail, FinTech
Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
Kenya, United States, Nigeria

Portfolio highlights

Leta — Leta Technology is a software development company that creates supply chain and logistics software to enable the efficient and automated movement of goods.
Jumba — Jumba is a construction technology platform that streamlines B2B construction material purchase and financing.
UTU Technologies — Trust infrastructure for the sharing economy.

FirstCheck Africa is an early believer for a generation of African women in tech. We invest early, with high conviction, in high-growth female-led startups with category-leadership potential.

Investment focus

Consumer, Financial Services, Payments
Pre-Seed, Seed
Kenya, Nigeria, United States

Portfolio highlights

Jumba — Jumba is a construction technology platform that streamlines B2B construction material purchase and financing.
Uncover — Experience nourishing and rejuvenating Uncover Skincare products in Kenya. Made just for you, using the finest ingredients to offer innovative & effective solutions.
Cleva — For anyone with global financial needs, A US-based dollar account in your name to receive, hold, and save USD.

Finnfund is a Finnish development finance company that provides long-term risk capital for private projects in developing countries. Apart from co-investing with Finnish companies they can finance ventures that use Finnish technology, cooperate with Finnish partners on a long-term basis or generate major environmental or social benefits.

Investment focus

Financial Services, FinTech, Energy
Debt Financing, Funding Round, Series B
Kenya, India, South Africa

Portfolio highlights

AwanTunai — AwanTunai seek to reinforce Indonesian needs and productivity by providing digital loan for a better financial freedom and capability to micro-entrepreneurs
Access Bank — Access Bank provides banking products and services to individual and business customers in Ghana. It offers standard savings and current, access advantage, solo, and premier accounts. The company also provides online banking services that include ATM, online access, and point-of-sale terminal services; and bills payment and Western Union moneytransfer services.
Beacon Power Services — Beacon Power Services is a utility company that provides energy management software and analytics for utilities.

Invest to change

Investment focus

Retail, Furniture, Manufacturing
Series A, Series B
Kenya

Portfolio highlights

Sistema.bio — Sistema.bio is a biodigester with biogas appliances. High efficiency biodigesters transform organic waste into renewable biogas.
MoKo Home + Living — MoKo Home is Kenya's one-stop furniture company specializing in comfort & smiles, having served over 10000 smiley homes to date. Will yours be next?

Lateral Capital is a mission driven venture fund investing in early and growth stage opportunities in Africa. We back companies that provide foundational technologies for the continent. We make debt and equity investments technology-enabled businesses that profitably solve significant pain points across financial services, healthcare, education,energy, agriculture, housing, logistics, mobility and more.

Investment focus

FinTech, Financial Services, Software
Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
United States, Nigeria, Kenya

Portfolio highlights

CNote — CNote created technology to streamline community-centered impact investing at scale. Further Racial Equity and Social Justice by investing with CNote.
Rhaeos — Rhaeos, the world's first wearable shunt monitor, aims to improve the quality care for patients with hydrocephalus through a novel, thermal biosensor. Developed within Northwestern University with collaboration between Dr. John Rogers, McCormick School of Engineering, Feinberg School of Medicine and Kellogg School of Management, Rhaeosrepresents a unique multidisciplinary translational effort for an important clinical need.
Wattnow — Wattnow is a real-time monitoring solution that provides a breakdown of energy spending to identify wasteful trends.

We are a leading venture capital firm in Dubai, UAE, focused on supporting entrepreneurs in the MENA region at the seed- and early-stage building great companies.

Investment focus

E-Commerce, Software, Information Technology
Seed, Series A, Series B
United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan

Portfolio highlights

qeen.ai — qeen.ai is a GenAI native platform that enables autonomous AI to e-commerce firms of all sizes.
Penny Software — Simple. Spending. Software.As above. But, more specifically, penny is a cloud-based Procure-To-Pay system. penny helps you digitize and manage your full procurement cycle from request to approval. Manage RFQs to vendors, compare quotations, send POs and even payment. penny was designed to make things easy and consolidate all of yourorganization’s spending needs into one intelligent system
Salus — Salus provides online counseling services for mental health conditions. Their services include mental health programs, therapies, science-backed self-help resources, and consultations for mental health.

For the many, not just the few. For good.

Investment focus

Agriculture, Internet, Clean Energy
Series A, Funding Round, Series B
Kenya, Nigeria, United States

Portfolio highlights

BasiGo — BasiGo is an early-stage e-mobility start-up looking to revolutionize the public transportation sector by providing matatu owners with a cost-effective electric alternative to diesel buses.
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.
MoKo Home + Living — MoKo Home is Kenya's one-stop furniture company specializing in comfort & smiles, having served over 10000 smiley homes to date. Will yours be next?

Blue Haven Initiative is an innovative family office dedicated to putting wealth to work for market returns and positive social and environmental change.

Investment focus

Solar, Energy, Financial Services
Series A, Series B, Seed
Kenya, United States, Ghana

Portfolio highlights

M-KOPA — M-KOPA is the global leader for “pay-as-you-go” energy services for off-grid customers. M-KOPA was established in 2011. Following 2 years of piloting and development, M-KOPA began commercial sales in Kenya in October 2012. M-KOPA expanded to Uganda in 2013 and commences operations in Tanzania in late 2014. Their team includes over 500 staff andwe sell our product through more than 1000 retail agents and shops. The founders of the company are experienced mobile technology innovators who believe in the huge potential of transformative, affordable products designed for underserved consumers. While excellent technology is a pre-requisite, technology alone does not solve for customer needs. Success comes when smart technology is combined with a commitment to on-going, on-the-ground delivery. To that end, M-KOPA is beginning to license its technology to experienced and reputable third parties in markets outside of East Africa (licensing queries should be sent to licensing@m-kopa.com). M-KOPA has developed a proprietary, patented technology platform that combines embedded GSM + mobile payments to revolutionize asset financing in emerging markets. The M-KOPAnet platform has been designed and built from the ground up by our talented team of software engineers, who continue to innovate and improve the system every day. It offers the powerful combination of accounting + customer relationship management + inventory tracking in one complete system. Aside from enabling our business operations to scale at record speed, the M-KOPAnet™ platform captures and processes huge volumes of data, enabling us to improve our proposition, customer service, and security in real-time.
TIBU Health — TIBU Health is a disruptive HealthTech logistics company that provides high-quality healthcare services.
BlueMark — BlueMark is the leading provider of impact intelligence and independent verification for the sustainable and impact investing market.

Investing in Africa | Chui Ventures is an investment company that seeks to back exceptional African companies at the early stage of their growth.

Investment focus

Fashion, Software, E-Commerce
Pre-Seed
Kenya, United States

Portfolio highlights

Shop Zetu — Shop the latest trendy fashion, beauty and accessory brands in Kenya online! Discover affordable clothing, footwear, accessories, beauty products and more. Order today from Shop Zetu.
Socium — Socium Job these are companies that recruit and offer real career opportunities to all those who share their values and wish to invest in their development.
Uncover — Experience nourishing and rejuvenating Uncover Skincare products in Kenya. Made just for you, using the finest ingredients to offer innovative & effective solutions.

FirstCheck Africa is an early believer for a generation of African women in tech. We invest early, with high conviction, in high-growth female-led startups with category-leadership potential.

Investment focus

Consumer, Financial Services, Payments
Pre-Seed, Seed
Kenya, Nigeria, United States

Portfolio highlights

Jumba — Jumba is a construction technology platform that streamlines B2B construction material purchase and financing.
Uncover — Experience nourishing and rejuvenating Uncover Skincare products in Kenya. Made just for you, using the finest ingredients to offer innovative & effective solutions.
Cleva — For anyone with global financial needs, A US-based dollar account in your name to receive, hold, and save USD.

DOB Equity is a private equity firm specializing in growth capital and buy-and-build strategies in small and medium companies.

Investment focus

Food and Beverage, Farming, Health Care
Private Equity, Funding Round, Seed
Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania

Portfolio highlights

Kwara — Kwara turns analog credit unions into modern digital banks.
Power — Putting individuals on the path towards financial health
Eden Care Medical — Eden Care Medical is a mobile application that provides medical and health insurance as well as financial services.

EQ2 Ventures is an investment firm that invests in Seed to Series B-stage startup companies. It was incorporated as a spin-off of Equitrust, a corporate VC arm launched in 2015 by Choueiri Group to capture opportunities linked to the digital transformation of the Middle East. Relying on a strong network of strategic investors and mentors, EQ2Ventures helps talented entrepreneurs solve major consumers and business problems, build sustainable companies. and create long-term value.

Investment focus

E-Commerce, Advertising, Retail
Series A, Seed, Series B
United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan

Portfolio highlights

Julaya — Julaya is a fintech providing African businesses with a digital account to make payments : disbursing mobile money transactions to their employees, suppliers, and owning their own virtual and physical prepaid cards.
Sukhiba — Sukhiba is a decentralized community-based commerce platform.
Uncover — Experience nourishing and rejuvenating Uncover Skincare products in Kenya. Made just for you, using the finest ingredients to offer innovative & effective solutions.

Experience the Ultimate

Investment focus

Retail, Furniture, Manufacturing
Debt Financing
Kenya

Portfolio highlights

MoKo Home + Living — MoKo Home is Kenya's one-stop furniture company specializing in comfort & smiles, having served over 10000 smiley homes to date. Will yours be next?

Future Africa is a collective of mission-driven founders and funders building unicorns to solve Africa’s biggest challenges. They are build a future where purpose and prosperity are within everyone’s reach.

Investment focus

Financial Services, FinTech, Information Technology
Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
Nigeria, United States, Kenya

Portfolio highlights

Moove — Moove is a mobility fintech that provides revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs, democratizing vehicle ownership globally. The company embeds its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing, logistics, and last-mile/instant delivery platforms, which allows access to proprietary performance and revenue analyticsof mobility entrepreneurs to underwrite loans.
Juicyway — Juice is a developer of a payment network platform for cross-border business payments for businesses and individuals. It facilitates financial transactions between parties regardless of location to allow enterprises to participate in international trade and the exchange of goods and services.
Filmmakers Mart — FilmmakersMart is Africa’s first film and entertainment marketplace where entertainment businesses and creatives find verified services seamlessly for their video productions while democratizing entry into the film and entertainment industry for emerging creatives. We’re building the operations system for the film and entertainment industry inAfrica.

Loyal runs a global venture fund with quarterly redemptions and a proprietary gate-stage process, reducing investment bias and unlocking greater returns. Partnered with INSEAD, Founder Institute, and 500+ advisors, we are Loyal to the world with 250+ investments in 50+ countries.

Investment focus

Artificial Intelligence, Software, E-Commerce
Pre-Seed, Seed, Funding Round
United States, Canada, United Kingdom

Portfolio highlights

Edept — Edept empowers students with global opportunities and academic excellence, bridging industry and academia to develop skilled citizens.
UTOBO INC. — utobo is the one-stop platform for educators and coaching services to take live classes, create courses and test series, and sell them online in just 30 minutes.
The Leaf Protein Company — Unlocking Earth's most abundant source of proteins - green leaves.

Launch Africa is a fund with the primary objective of unlocking the capital constraints of Seed Stage tech startups.

Investment focus

Financial Services, FinTech, Information Technology
Seed, Funding Round, Pre-Seed
Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya

Portfolio highlights

Bosso — Bosso projects and realizes automation and robotic solutions for the growth of your business.
Kredete — Kredete is a digital lending platform that provides free credit scores and reports to underserved individuals and small businesses in Africa to help them gain access to formal credit and improve their financial health. The platform connects borrowers with lenders and enterprises in Africa and is designed to simplify the lending process and makecredit more accessible by leveraging cutting-edge technology. Kredete offers a user-friendly platform that guides borrowers, lenders, and enterprises through the process of offering loans, making it simple for them to provide the right loan products for their needs.One of the key features of Kredete is its instant approval process, which is made possible by advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence. The platform offers flexible lending options by partnering with a variety of lenders and enterprises, enabling borrowers to choose the best option for their specific situation.Kredete is committed to protecting the privacy and security of all users' personal and financial information. It uses robust encryption and security measures to ensure that sensitive data remains safe and secure. Additionally, the platform maintains transparency throughout the loan process, providing lenders, enterprises, and borrowers with clear information about loan terms and associated fees.Kredete believes in empowering its users with the knowledge and resources they need to make informed financial decisions. To this end, the platform offers financial education, tools, and resources to help users better understand and manage their finances. Kredete also works closely with businesses and institutions to provide tailored financial solutions for their unique needs.Through its focus on accessibility, convenience, and transparency, Kredete is transforming the lending landscape in Africa and helping to bridge the financial inclusion gap. The platform remains dedicated to its mission of empowering lenders, enterprises, and borrowers across the continent to access the funds they need to achieve their financial goals.
Wahu Mobility — Wahu Mobility is an open e-mobility platform that connects drivers, passengers, and goods in a simple, inclusive, transparent, nationwide, and multimodal manner.

Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and his wife, Pam, established Omidyar Network based on the belief that every person has the potential to make a difference. Since 2004, they have worked with their partners to create opportunities for people to tap that potential, enabling them to improve their lives and make powerful contributions to theircommunities.They support, scale, and champion the work of their partners in order to maximize social impact. As a philanthropic investment firm, they make both investments and grants, identifying like-minded organizations that they support, help scale, and collaborate with to help realize their full potential. Their efforts are organized around two investment initiatives Access to Capital, and Media, Markets and Transparency.

Investment focus

Financial Services, FinTech, Education
Series A, Series B, Seed
United States, India, Brazil

Portfolio highlights

Qoala — Asuransi online yang siap melindungi kamu dan orang tersayang, di mana aja, kapan aja. Premi murah, proses klaim mudah, dan 100% digital!
Anthropic — An AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
RailYatri — Indian Railways Train Enquiry, Insights & IRCTC eTicket booking - RailYatri

Build your next company with Antler, a global day zero investor enabling exceptional founders to start great companies, from the very beginning. Apply now!

Investment focus

Software, Information Technology, SaaS
Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A
Singapore, United Kingdom, Australia

Portfolio highlights

FitFlo — FitFlo brings to life the connected gym experience for Operators, Trainers and Members.
Mole — Mole is a digital business card and mobile website software. Connect with your clients, promote your business online and much more. Comes with free customised NFC business card.
Optacloud — Fostering a global AI powered ecosystem to achieve 100% cloud efficacy-> effortlessly, economically and eco-consciously. Dev tools stack for automating the entire development lifecycle of cloud apps across- Build, Deploy & Optimize.

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