Top 5 Startup Investors in Kenya in December 2024

Last updated: Dec 2024 A list of 5 angel investors and VC (Venture Capital) funds that invest in Venture capital startups based in Kenya. We rank investors based on the number of investments they made in Venture capital companies from Kenya. We update this investor list every month.

Top 5 Startup Investors in Kenya in December 2024

Investor	Venture Capital Kenya investments
Helena Riese Harstad	1
ARCH Emerging Markets Partners	1
Ground Squirrel Ventures	1
Jim Villanueva	1
Federico Pirzio-Biroli	1

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Investor list

Helena Riese Harstad is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Optimizer Foundation. She previously worked at SBAB Bank as a Project Specialist. Helena Riese attended Stockholm University.

Investment focus

Travel, Tourism, Venture Capital
Pre-Seed
Kenya

Portfolio highlights

Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

ARCH is a specialist emerging markets investment advisor with deep experience of emerging markets, private equity, asset management and legal and governance matters over many decades.

Investment focus

Solar, Finance, Consumer
Series D, Debt Financing, Private Equity
Kenya, South Africa, United States

Portfolio highlights

CrossBoundary — CrossBoundary Energy's renewable energy solutions help decarbonize enterprise by providing cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power.
Sun King — Sun King solar lanterns and home systems enables underserved communities to achieve more with inclusive distribution and flexible financing options.
The Sun Exchange — Sun Exchange delivers risk-free commercial solar power with full financing, installation, and maintenance.

Seed round investment in frontier markets and clean energy

Investment focus

Financial Services, FinTech, Finance
Seed, Funding Round, Series A
United States, Kenya, Zambia

Portfolio highlights

Grapevine — Grapevine makes it possible for groups to invite members, collect and distribute donations, establish a community and connect with nonprofits.
MindMics — Discover MindMics. The world's most accurate personal heart health monitor and well-being platform. Look after your heart health to live longer and better.
Untapped Global — Untapped connects global investors, and foreign capital to opportunities in emerging markets. Delivering competitive returns, and measurable impact for global investors.

Jim Villanueva - Investment Director, Managing Director, Global Partnerships Social Venture Fund @ Global Partnerships

Investment focus

Agriculture, Energy, Travel
Series A, Series B, Seed
Kenya, Uganda, Zambia

Portfolio highlights

Treasure8 — Through our commercial partnerships and USDA-patented dehydration technologies, Treasure8 transforms food streams and food waste into nutrient-dense elements that can be enhanced, shaped, shipped, and enjoyed almost anywhere and when needed most.
Good Nature Agro — Their priority is to generate lasting income with small-scale farmers. They build local community leaders into qualified Private Extension Agents (PEAs) who oversee and train farmers throughout the growing season. They support PEAs to provide frequent trainings and personalized recommendations on how their growers can make their field healthier andmore productive. PEAs promote improved farm practices and deliver a farmer-friendly loan of seeds and additional inputs. At harvest, Good Nature is a guaranteed market for the certified legume seed that their growers produce. Choosing to produce these high-value crops over traditional cash crops - maize and cotton - more than doubles their income.
Purple Elephant Ventures — We are Africa's first venture studio focusing on the travel & tourism sector. Our aim is to build businesses that will lead Africa's tourism industry to a greener future

Fede started out as an angel investor in 2010. His portfolio quickly grew, so he built a team around him and thus Playfair Capital was born. We have since gone on to become one of Europe’s most active and well-known early-stage VC funds. Before becoming a technology investor Fede worked for several NGOs in Africa, with a particular focus on aidtransparency. He recently renewed his focus on Africa by relocating to Kenya and becoming an angel investor in East Africa’s burgeoning startup ecosystem. He maintains an active role at Playfair and continues to lead our investment team.