African climate-tech venture builder Persistent has launched the US$70 million Persistent Africa Climate Venture Fund with a first close of US$52 million and an additional initial US$5 million Venture Building Facility.
The Persistent ACV Fund is an early-stage climate investment vehicle domiciled in Mauritius, focused on backing Africa’s most innovative and high-impact climate ventures.
Beyond capital, the fund leverages Persistent’s tailored venture-building platform to accelerate the growth, operational maturation, and scale of its portfolio companies. The fund aims to catalyse Africa’s energy, agriculture, and resource transitions.
While its core strategy targets investments from pre-seed through Series A, the fund retains the flexibility to provide later-stage follow-on capital to high-performing portfolio companies. Structured with a blended finance model, it offers private investors first-loss and priority return protection.
Its investment approach is further strengthened by integrated, bespoke venture-building support, underpinned by a US$5 million contribution-based Venture Building Facility (VBF).
“Achieving the first close of the Persistent ACV Fund is a strong show of confidence in Persistent and the fund’s strategy. The first close demonstrates that early-stage climate innovation in Africa is investable at scale and that it presents a compelling opportunity for investors,” said the Persistent founders.
“We are excited to move into the investment phase as we continue to back entrepreneurs building businesses across Africa’s energy, agriculture and resource transitions. We are thankful for the trust that all our LPs, the contributors to our venture-building facility, and especially the entrepreneurs we will invest in, are putting in us. We believe that the growing alignment between catalytic and commercial capital is essential to closing Africa’s climate financing gap, and we look forward to translating that alignment into disciplined execution, impact and long-term value creation.”
