Pan-African venture capital firm Enza Capital has completed a first close of $21 million for its recently launched AI Africa Fund, which provides dedicated capital to early-stage artificial intelligence and AI-enabled companies across Sub-Saharan Africa. The fund is targeting $ 100 million, with a hard cap of $80 million, and expects to reach its final close in about a year.
Bridging a Massive Global Disconnect
To understand why this new fund matters so much, it helps to look at the numbers. In the first half of 2026, African startups raised roughly $1.36 billion in total venture funding, yet pure AI startups received less than two per cent of that money. Throughout the year, total investment into African AI ventures has hovered around $46.8 million. That figure is a tiny drop in the ocean compared to the massive sums flowing into AI companies in North America and Europe.
Enza Capital sees this widening gap not as a sign of weakness, but as one of the biggest untapped opportunities on the continent. While global investors pour money into building massive, expensive AI models from scratch, Enza Capital is betting on a more practical approach. The $21 million first close represents 35 per cent of the fund’s primary target of $60 million. The firm has also set a hard cap of $80 million and expects to reach a final close within the next year.
Practical AI Built for African Realities
Rather than trying to compete with tech giants in building foundational AI models, the AI Africa Fund will focus on startups that adapt artificial intelligence to local languages, local data, and everyday infrastructure. Enza Capital plans to back both AI-native companies and traditional tech businesses that use AI to make their operations smarter and faster.
Managing Partner Mike Mompi and his co-founders, Sir John Lazar and David Cohen, believe that AI gives African entrepreneurs a unique edge. Across many African markets, high operating costs, fragmented supply chains, and limited infrastructure have historically made it expensive to scale a business. By using software automation and intelligent tools, startups can turn these tough market constraints into competitive advantages, delivering essential services at a fraction of the traditional cost.
Where the Money Will Go
The new fund will support startups from their earliest days at the pre-seed stage all the way up to Series B growth rounds. Initial investments will range between $250,000 and $3 million, giving founders the runway they need to build, test, and expand their products across borders.
Enza Capital is targeting sectors that touch the daily lives of millions of Africans, including financial services, healthcare, agriculture, education, and logistics. However, the firm is also being careful about profitability. Running AI software requires heavy computing power, which can quickly eat into a startup’s profits. Because of this, Enza will look closely at businesses that own unique local data, have strong customer distribution networks, and maintain healthy profit margins.
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A Track Record of Backing African Startups
Founded in 2019, Enza Capital has spent the last seven years building a strong footprint across the continent, operating out of offices in Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Cairo. Before launching this third vehicle, the firm raised $58 million across its first two funds and backed nearly fifty startups across ten African countries. Its portfolio already includes well-known African tech leaders such as Nigerian human resources platform SeamlessHR, automotive marketplace Autochek Africa, and South African payments company Peach Payments.
Interestingly, nearly one in four companies Enza has invested in since 2019 already relies on artificial intelligence.
The firm also actively nurtures grassroots talent by running AI Tinkerers chapters in major tech hubs like Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, and Johannesburg. With its first investments from the new fund slated to begin in 2027, Enza Capital is positioning itself as the go-to partner for founders proving that world-class artificial intelligence can be built in Africa, for Africa.
