Speedinvest, the Vienna-based venture capital firm, has launched its first dedicated Africa fund after securing a €40 million anchor commitment from EIB Global, the development finance arm of the European Investment Bank.
The EIB's commitment is structured against a maximum fund size of €200 million under the bank's project terms, though Speedinvest has not disclosed a final fundraising target for the vehicle.
The commitment was formalised at a signing ceremony at Speedinvest's Vienna headquarters attended by EIB Vice-President Karl Nehammer. EIB Global is taking a limited partner position at first close, with the anchor designed to catalyse additional fundraising from other institutional investors and development finance institutions.
The Speedinvest Africa Fund will invest at seed and Series A in companies using financial technology to digitalise businesses across payments, lending, banking, insurance, health, education and mobility in both North and Sub-Saharan African markets.
Target geographies include established hubs in Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, as well as earlier-stage ecosystems in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia, Tanzania and Uganda.
At least 30% of capital will be allocated to companies supporting women as founders, employees or consumers, qualifying the fund under the 2X Challenge, a global benchmark for gender-smart investing.
"With EIB Global support, we are deepening our long-term commitment to backing exceptional founders across Africa while strengthening enduring bridges between Africa and Europe," said Oliver Holle, Speedinvest's CEO and managing partner. "By combining local presence with our European network of operators, sector expertise, and follow-on capital, we aim to help founders scale regionally and internationally."
The fund is led by Speedinvest partners Deepali Nangia and Rana Abdel Latif, and the firm plans to open an office on the continent.
The vehicle marks a structural shift for Speedinvest from opportunistic African deployment within its global fund to a ring-fenced capital pool with an explicit regional mandate.
The firm has made over 16 investments in African startups to date, deploying more than $345 million across the continent. Its portfolio includes Nigerian digital lender FairMoney, Egyptian earned-wage-access platform Khazna, Kenyan logistics company Leta, Ivorian payments company Julaya, Ghanaian SME platform Oze, South African startup Precium, Kenyan company Mophones, and Anda in Angola, its most recent African investment from November 2025.
Its most closely watched African holding is Moove, the Lagos-founded mobility fintech it backed alongside Left Lane Capital from early rounds. Moove, co-founded by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, has raised over $460 million in equity and debt, expanded to 19 markets and was pursuing a $300 million equity raise at a reported valuation exceeding $2 billion as of late 2025.
The company achieved EBITDA break-even in 2024, acquired Brazilian mobility firm Kovi in January 2025 and has moved into autonomous vehicle fleet management through a partnership with Alphabet's Waymo, operating electric robotaxi fleets in Phoenix and Miami.
The EIB commitment lands in a difficult environment for Africa-focused fundraising. Africa-focused fund managers raised only $107 million across final closes in six funds in 2025, an 87% decline by value year-on-year, according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
European investors, historically the largest source of commitments into African funds, accounted for just 21% of fundraising in 2025, down from 70% between 2022 and 2024.
EIB Global deployed €3.1 billion across Africa in 2025, roughly a third of the more than €9 billion it channelled globally, and committed more than €350 million to new investment funds during the year, with other recipients including Amethis and Ardian.
Speedinvest is also now backed by the Qatar Investment Authority as part of QIA's expanded $3 billion Fund of Funds programme, announced at Web Summit Qatar in February 2026.
Speedinvest was one of five new firms selected alongside Greycroft, Ion Pacific, Liberty City Ventures and Shorooq, all of which are establishing offices in Doha.
FWDstart reported at the time that the expansion brought the programme to 12 regional and international fund managers, with QIA's prime minister confirming the initiative could broaden beyond its original Series A and B focus into later-stage rounds.
