Aduna Capital, a pioneering investment firm, proudly announces the launch of its first $20m fund dedicated to transforming the African tech start-up ecosystem.
Aduna Capital is not just an investment firm; it’s an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship, founded by Surayyah Ahmad Sani and Sanusi Ismaila. Surayyah Ahmad Sani, a 2x founder with 1 exit and a founding partner of the accelerator TTLabs, brings a wealth of experience in nurturing start-ups and fostering growth. Surayyah has also angel invested in 3 start-ups including a recent raid hailing company, Swiftride. She has facilitated investment of up to $2m at angel and pre-seed stage into African Start-ups.
Sanusi Ismaila, is a seasoned entrepreneur and operator, also the founder of Colab – the first innovation hub in Kaduna state, and one of the largest technology campuses in Nigeria. Colab is the single biggest source of technology talent across northern Nigeria, with alumni distributed across the world with a few in notable international companies such as Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Paxful, Andela, Simplifa GmbH, One Acre Fund, One World Coders, Data Culture, Toptal, Cloudflare among others. Colab’s start-up alumni include Payant, a payment solutions company which currently processes over a billion naira monthly, Sudo – a card issuing infrastructure startup, which has gone on to raise $3.7 million (pre-seed) in equity investments, and SchoolMO, an ed-tech startup that administers and tracks the performance of over 200,000 pupils across Nigeria and also helps schools collect over 6 billion naira in school fees every term
Aduna Capital is dedicated to discovering and nurturing early-stage, tech-enabled start-ups across Africa, with a special focus on empowering female founders and start-ups in underserved regions like Northern Nigeria. The firm aims to unlock the vast potential of these entrepreneurs, driving innovation and sustainable growth across the continent.
Why Northern Nigeria? Northern Nigeria, with a population of over 128 million people as per the National Bureau of Statistics 2021, presents a massive untapped market. This population is four times that of Ghana and 2.5 times that of Kenya, offering a vast pool of potential customers and talent. By 2050, Nigeria is expected to become the 4th largest country in the world, with a significant portion of this growth occurring in the North. Start-ups in sectors like edtech and agritech in this region are already making over $1.2 million in bootstrapped revenue, according to a report by NFC, 2023. With proper funding and support, these start-ups have the potential to scale significantly, both within the continent and globally.
Empowering Female Founders: Aduna Capital is committed to backing trailblazing female founders, recognizing their exceptional potential for high returns. Research shows that female founders are known to return $2 for every $1 invested in them, a statistic that Aduna Capital aims to capitalize on by allocating 50% of its investments to female-led startups. (EIB, 2021).
A Pan-African Investment Focus: Aduna Capital’s investment focus extends beyond Northern Nigeria. The fund will allocate 25% of its investments to start-ups in the rest of Nigeria and another 25% across the African continent. This pan-African approach ensures a diverse and robust portfolio, tapping into a wide range of innovative ideas and businesses.
Investment Strategy and Returns: The fund primarily targets super early and pre-seed stage investments, with a few seed-stage deals for diversification. Aduna Capital is targeting a 5-10x investor return, striking a balance between impactful investments and lucrative returns for its investors.
Contact Information: For more information, please contact: hi@aduna.vc
