The French government-backed Digital Africa has launched a EUR50 million (US$57 million) seed fund that targets 20 underserved countries in a bid to institutionalise early-stage capital in markets outside the continent’s traditional tech hubs.
Digital Africa, backed by Proparco, the private sector arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, has backed over 70 startups in 16 African countries via its existing pre-seed fund.
It has now launched the Digital Africa Seed Fund (DASF), aiming to build a “financing continuum” from pre-seed through seed, with Proparco picking up at Series A and beyond. The pan-African DASF targets 20 underserved countries with ticket sizes up to EUR2 million (US$2.3 million).
The fund’s stated preference for markets outside the continent’s “big four” of Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, addressing Africa’s widening seed gap. It is sector-agnostic but lists six priority areas – artificial intelligence (AI), fintech, e-health, climate-tech, space, and digital infrastructure.
