Early-stage investor Antler has closed its oversubscribed East Africa investment fund at US$13.5 million to continue to support early-stage tech startups in the region.

Antler is the world’s most-active early-stage investor, supporting hundreds of technology startups and thousands of entrepreneurs across six continents. To date, the company has invested in more than 400 companies in over 30 industries.

Antler East Africa’s first venture building cohort was launched in August 2019, and to date the company has run five full cohorts totaling 153 founders, and made 14 investments. Starting this month, Antler is embarking on a new, community-driven platform approach where it will accept founders and teams on a rolling basis.

The company plans to make 35 new investments over the coming three years, and to do so closed its East Africa at US$13.5 million, way above its US$10 million target. Leading investors such as Baillie Gifford, institutional investors such as IFC, and family offices like Canica participated in the round.

The model will be twofold, accepting founders looking to build their businesses with Antler from scratch, as well as early-stage startups looking to raise capital. Antler aims to provide one of the shortest institutional funding cycles for a global fund in Africa, focused on bringing coaching and true value to all our founders from day one.

“We are excited about Antler’s presence in East Africa and over time in other parts of Africa. With fast growing economies and a rapidly developing startup ecosystem, we believe this is the perfect time to launch and build tech startups on the continent,” said Magnus Grimeland, Antler founder and CEO.

“With Melalite Ayenew and Marie Nielsen leading Antler East Africa, we have two great female partners who have shown exceptional skill as investors and entrepreneurs, and Antler looks forward to enabling and investing in entrepreneurs that are innovating across a range of industries in the coming years.”