Janade du Plessis
Both partners had huge finance and investment experience before starting Launch Africa. An angel investor, Zach worked as a Wall Street bulge-bracket investment banker before co-founding two well-known accelerator programs in Africa: Barclays Rise Growth Accelerator and Start-up bootcamp Afritech. On the other hand, Janade held the chief investment officer position at the African Development Bank and founded Abrazo Capital, a social impact-driven investment firm.
Launched in July 2020, Launch Africa has disrupted the market to become the most active early-stage Pan-African venture capital fund. Vespa backing the fund at seed stage.
Launch Africa is a leading Pan-African VC fund solving the significant funding gap in the Seed and pre-Series A investment landscape in Africa. With a focus on investing in the next generation of African technology start-ups, most of Launch Africa’s portfolio founders and their employees are 35 years of age and younger.
With a decade-long track record of venture building alongside some of the smartest founding teams in Africa, we back startups across multiple sectors, regions, and products that tackle the most meaningful challenges on the continent.
Launch Africa is a leading Pan-African VC fund solving the significant funding gap in the Seed and pre-Series A investment landscape in Africa. With a focus on investing in the next generation of African technology start-ups, most of Launch Africa’s portfolio founders and their employees are 35 years of age and younger.
With a decade-long track record of venture building alongside some of the smartest founding teams in Africa, we back startups across multiple sectors, regions, and products that tackle the most meaningful challenges on the continent.