The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested $8 million in the Ventures Platform Pan-African Fund II to support early-stage technology companies in Nigeria and four other African markets.
The investment will provide growth capital to startups across Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Morocco and Senegal, with the goal of promoting innovation, business expansion and job creation.
The investment was made through the EBRD’s Early-Stage Innovation Facility II, a €200 million programme established to invest in commercially focused venture capital funds that support innovative businesses.
The facility is aimed at strengthening Africa’s early-stage investment ecosystem by providing venture capital funds with the resources needed to invest in startups and support their development and growth.
Kola Aina, Founding Partner of Ventures Platform, said the EBRD’s participation demonstrates growing institutional confidence in Africa’s technology and innovation ecosystem.
According to Aina, the investment will enhance the fund’s capacity to support African founders building solutions to major challenges and creating new markets.
“We are delighted to welcome the EBRD as an investor in Ventures Platform Pan-African Fund II. Its commitment reflects a shared conviction that Africa’s next generation of globally relevant technology companies will be built by founders solving meaningful problems and creating new markets,” Aina said.
He added that the partnership goes beyond the provision of capital, noting that it also reinforces confidence in Africa’s innovation economy and the potential of technology businesses across the continent.
Dirk Werner, the EBRD’s Managing Director of Equity, said innovation was becoming increasingly important to Africa’s economic future, although venture capital remained limited relative to the scale of entrepreneurial activity on the continent.
“By investing in Ventures Platform Pan-African Fund II, we are helping to strengthen the market infrastructure that enables innovative businesses to access growth capital and scale their impact,” Werner said.
The EBRD said its investment, alongside development finance institutions, international financial institutions and private investors, demonstrates its continued support for Africa’s venture capital ecosystem.
The bank began investing across five sub-Saharan African countries in 2025 and has committed €620 million to the region in less than a year.
The latest investment is expected to increase financing opportunities for early-stage technology companies while supporting African startups to develop, scale their operations and compete in regional and global markets.
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