California-based Sherpa Ventures Launches $1m Basecamp Fund for African startups

African startups are in for good times following Sherpa Ventures’ launch of a $1 million Basecamp Fund meant just for them. A statement that was made available by the US-based venture capital firm noted that part of the fund has already been disbursed to some African startups.

Sherpa Ventures, which was co-founded by Nikhil Patel, Aaron Fu, and Alastair Curtis, is working with a list of investors such as Emilian Popa, Lexi Novitske, and Grant Brooke who backed the $1 million Basecamp Fund for African startups.

Together, they are seeking to help the startups to strengthen and scale their operations through the injection of capital. In specific terms, the sum of $50,000 will be invested in selected startups, all of whom must currently be raising less than $500.000 from our funding sources. Sherpa Ventures will also work with the startups over a six-nine-month period, before deciding to invest more.

“We are a supportive and collaborative community – a community of capital, expertise and experience who have built and operated some of the strongest startups on the continent and across the world. We can’t wait to partner with extraordinary teams in the region, to realise the power of one generation of startup operators in Africa investing in and sprinting alongside the next generation,” Aaron Fu was quoted to have said.

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Among the startups that have already benefited from the $1 million Basecamp Fund are Nigerian startup OnePie and Ghana-based Boost. Reacting to the funding, the Co-founder and CEO of Boost, Mike Quinn, said Sherpa Ventures “brought other investors to the table, and have been helping us design country entry strategies and develop a stronger hiring framework.”