Fund will invest in early-stage start-ups working to reduce carbon emissions and build climate resilience to drive inclusive economic growth across Sub-Saharan Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya, March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Equator, a climate-tech venture capital firm focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, announced the final close of its first fund with approximately $55 million USD in commitments to support Seed and Series A-stage, tech-enabled ventures in the sectors of energy, agriculture and mobility through an overlooked phase in their funding journey. Notable investors in the fund include British International Investment (BII), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Shell Foundation and DOEN Participates.
Africa accounts for less than 3% of the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to date, but Africans will be among the world’s most affected by the negative impacts of climate change. In addition, the fundraising environment for start-ups in Africa is particularly challenging, with the continent receiving just 0.6% of total global equity funding in 2024, bringing funding to its lowest level since 2020. Less than a third of this capital flowed to climate-related sectors and only ten percent of that went to early-stage ventures.
Equator was founded with the intention of accelerating an equitable climate transition in Sub-Saharan Africa by providing much-needed capital and active hands-on support to climate-tech ventures at a critical juncture in their start-up journey. The VC firm is particularly well positioned with a team that has decades of experience both investing in and operating successful ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa across a variety of sustainability-focused sectors. With teams in Nairobi, Lagos, London, and Colorado, Equator invests in high-growth, ready-to-scale ventures that are driven by technology and business model innovation in their quest to address material economic and sustainability challenges in the region.
“We have a unique and diverse team of technologists, operators and investors united by our obsession to drive momentum in the campaign for climate action in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Nijhad Jamal, managing partner of Equator. “Our deep in-market presence, combined with our global experience and reach, allows us to forecast trends and develop theses that underpin our investments in proven technology and business model innovation to address local market challenges.”
Investors in the fund represent a wide swath of well-established global organizations that will be ideal partners to set Equator’s portfolio companies up for long-term success. Early investors, including BII and GEAPP (an organization founded by the Rockefeller and Ikea foundations and the Bezos Earth Fund), have directly supported Equator portfolio companies with follow-on equity, debt or technical assistance. Since the first close of the fund, Proparco, a subsidiary of the French development agency, and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, have both joined. For IFC, the investment is their first-ever in a venture capital fund entirely focused on supporting businesses and innovation in the climate sector.
Equator has already backed some of the region’s most prominent early-stage companies, with many going on to raise significant equity rounds from a mix of global and regional investors. Examples include Odyssey Energy Solutions, Roam Electric and SunCulture. New investments since the first close of the fund include:
- Downforce Technologies – A digital platform that measures soil organic carbon for farmers, landowners and project developers to maximize the potential of their land
- Ibisa – Designing and delivering parametric insurance solutions that provide fast payouts to help businesses and smallholder farmers respond to climate shocks
- Leta – A logistics tech company that helps optimize the movement of goods for businesses to reduce costs and minimize climate impact
- SteamaCo and Shyft Power Solutions – A scalable IoT smart metering platform and AI theft detection solutions for managing electricity sales
ABOUT EQUATOR
Equator is a venture capital firm with teams in Nairobi, Lagos, London, and Colorado that targets technology-enabled, early-stage ventures in energy, agriculture and mobility that are accelerating an equitable climate transition and supporting inclusive economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The firm is backed by a team of technologists, operators, and investors with decades of experience investing in and scaling early-stage ventures in climate-positive sectors and across Sub-Saharan Africa. To learn more, visit https://equator.vc/.
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SOURCE Equator
