Launch Africa Ventures (LA), one of the continent’s most active early-stage venture capital firms, has closed 15 new investments in 2026.
Founded in 2020, Launch Africa Ventures is a leading pan-African venture capital fund and one of the most active early-stage investors on the continent, with more than 180 portfolio companies spanning 25 countries across its two funds.
The firm invests from pre-seed to seed to pre-Series A tech companies solving significant challenges across fintech, health-tech, agri-tech, logistics, ed-tech and enterprise software, and supports its portfolio with follow-on capital, global distribution partnerships, and access to a network of more than 400 LPs across 45 countries.
Disrupt Africa reported last month the firm had made its first cash distribution to its limited partners (LPs) from its Launch Africa Seed Fund I, returning approximately US$2.5 million, and it has now announced it has closed 15 investments in the last six months.
Its 2026 cohort spans AI, the future of work, B2B commerce, supply chain, embedded finance, and other infrastructure‑led sectors across Francophone, Northern, Western, and Southern African markets.
The new investments include Agridex, Udu Technologies, Fincart, Tayar, Khaime, Anavid, Mainstack, Growwr, Yamify, Legendary Foods, and Masunga, among others, alongside follow-on rounds into existing portfolio companies.
Behind this pace lies a deliberate process. Launch Africa reviews over 1,200 companies annually, interviews co‑founders individually to assess team dynamics, and evaluates each prospective investment against the needs of its existing portfolio, prioritising companies that reinforce its network of more than 180 backed businesses.
As its portfolio companies mature, Launch Africa continues to expand the connective tissue between founders, investors, and markets across the continent.
“The most important number in African tech this year isn’t the total raised, it’s how few first cheques are being written,” said Uwem Uwemakpan, head of investments at Launch Africa Ventures.
“When the market retreats from early-stage, the companies still being formed face less competition, raise at more rational prices, and are being built on infrastructure that simply didn’t exist in the last cycle. We invest where the rest of the market isn’t looking yet, not where it already is. If nobody underwrites company formation in 2026, there is no Series A class in 2029. We intend to back that pipeline.”