A Kenyan-based company, Antler East Africa, has received Ksh400 million (US$3.5 million) more than the initial capital of Ksh1 billion (US$10 million) it was seeking to raise.
According to a report by TechCrunch, the company, which finances early-stage startups, received overwhelming contributions during its funding round.
The Nairobi-based company got its funding from global firms such as Baillie Gifford which backs Elon Musk-led Tesla among others.
Launched in 2019, the company has seen a number of successes including 14 investments. It has also mentored 153 founders through its accelerator programme.
Some of the investments recorded are AIfluence, Marketforce-subsidiary Digiduka, Honeycoin and Uncover Skincare among others.
“We still do the venture building. That’s still the core of what we do. Just that now that the fund is closed, we have enough money to spend on existing businesses that are coming in.
"We can invest in stuff that’s already been built with a pure kind of VCs type setup investment," stated the company director Selam Kebede according to the publication.
Antler East Africa is part of the larger Antler company operating globally that finances start-ups from the pre-seed stage to series C.
The company also prides itself in providing coaching support to its clients.
"We have a team of serial entrepreneurs, technologists, connectors and investors in each of our locations. We've also built strong networks of exceptional advisors in every region, who help to coach the co-founding teams and help them succeed," reads a statement on its website.
The firm has, since its inception, received more than 50,000 applications and has funded over 400 start-ups guided by over 500 advisors.
In 2021, Kenyan start-ups raised over Ksh456 billion (US$4 billion).
