Name: How is Algebra Ventures expanding across Africa?
Uploaded: 2024-12-09T15:14:24.729Z
Duration: 347.55
Description: Discover how Algebra Ventures is leveraging their expertise in Egypt to make big moves in Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria. At SuperReturn Africa, Omar Khashaba shares their strategy for investing in high-potential sectors like Fintech and Agritech, while building powerful partnerships across Africa. Don’t miss out on this insider’s look at Africa’s next wave of innovation!

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English

{{00:00:07}}
Historically, we were focused on Egypt.

{{00:00:09}}
That's where we were set up.

{{00:00:12}}
80 percent of our investments
are going into Egypt.

{{00:00:15}}
We've been operating since 2016.

{{00:00:17}}
We have two funds, 150 mil in AUM roughly.

{{00:00:22}}
I think one thing that we realized
especially over the course of

{{00:00:26}}
FundOne, is that a lot of companies
in both North and Sub Saharan Africa

{{00:00:32}}
were approaching us with a view
to helping them expand into Egypt.

{{00:00:37}}
And that's really been our secret sauce.

{{00:00:41}}
And now when we invest outside of
Egypt, which over the last two years,

{{00:00:45}}
we've been doing quite a bit of.

{{00:00:47}}
So we have a very strong footprint
in Morocco, we have advanced deals

{{00:00:53}}
in the pipeline in Kenya and Nigeria.

{{00:00:57}}
We try to position ourselves as either
a firm that can help those entrepreneurs

{{00:01:04}}
successfully launch into Egypt, or
leverage the patterns we've seen in Egypt.

{{00:01:10}}
That may be similar to what, the country
that the company is based in may be,

{{00:01:21}}
may be seeing in the future.

{{00:01:22}}
And to the extent that We've
seen that pattern in the past.

{{00:01:27}}
We may be able to help them
avoid some common pitfalls.

{{00:01:32}}
So we're not moving away from Egypt.

{{00:01:35}}
Egypt is always going to be our
core market and our core focus.

{{00:01:39}}
And I think our ability to create value
in Egypt is what gives us access to

{{00:01:45}}
competitive deals outside of Egypt.

{{00:01:48}}
But we are keen on leveraging a lot
of the know how that we've built

{{00:01:55}}
in Egypt and taking that know how.

{{00:01:57}}
And trying to develop our footprint
across North and Sub Saharan Africa.

{{00:02:03}}
There are different strategies that
are applicable for different markets.

{{00:02:08}}
Morocco, for example, is where
Egypt was a few years ago.

{{00:02:12}}
Obviously there are idiosyncrasies
to every market and not everything

{{00:02:18}}
is going to follow the same pattern.

{{00:02:20}}
But we feel like having been down the
rabbit hole in Egypt we can anticipate

{{00:02:25}}
some of the future trends and developments
that will take place in Morocco.

{{00:02:29}}
Whereas Nigeria, for example,
is a completely different beast.

{{00:02:33}}
And when investing outside of
Egypt more generally, because we're

{{00:02:38}}
not experts within those markets.

{{00:02:41}}
What we tend to do is partner with
a strong local VC whose judgment we

{{00:02:47}}
trust and who can lead on the deals.

{{00:02:51}}
So we, In Egypt, we're very early stage.

{{00:02:54}}
Outside of Egypt, it tends
to be Series A and beyond.

{{00:03:01}}
So we're sector agnostic, but thesis
driven, in the sense that we like to

{{00:03:07}}
cultivate a prepared mind, and when
we encounter certain patterns that we

{{00:03:12}}
think match areas of opportunity, then
we're more likely to invest quickly.

{{00:03:19}}
Generally speaking, some of our theses
are within the Fintech infrastructure

{{00:03:25}}
as a service space, we really like
infrastructure, Fintech infrastructure

{{00:03:31}}
as opposed to just Fintech, and we've
been heavily investing into that.

{{00:03:38}}
Agritech, we think is completely
underrepresented in venture, especially

{{00:03:43}}
in North Africa but constitutes a large
percentage of GDP and so there are

{{00:03:50}}
certain areas within Agritech that we're.

{{00:03:53}}
very likely to invest in, and
the list goes on so I think it's

{{00:04:00}}
a longer discussion, but sector
agnostic, however thesis driven.

{{00:04:07}}
We want to be a lot more on the ground
in certain key markets, Morocco, Kenya,

{{00:04:15}}
and Nigeria outside of Egypt are all
markets that We want to consistently

{{00:04:20}}
have a, some form of presence in.

{{00:04:23}}
We've already done, two deals in
Morocco, where another three are

{{00:04:30}}
in advanced stages of the pipeline.

{{00:04:33}}
We have a couple of deals in Nigeria
that we're cultivating, but whereas

{{00:04:37}}
in Morocco we're at a fairly advanced
stage, I'd say we're still within

{{00:04:44}}
the preparation phase in terms of
understanding Kenya and Nigeria.

{{00:04:52}}
And one initiative that we're working on
right now is organizing an Egypt Nigeria

{{00:04:58}}
summit to try and bring together The
best entrepreneurs from both markets.

{{00:05:03}}
We think that there are a
lot of similarities between

{{00:05:06}}
Egyptian Nigerian entrepreneurs.

{{00:05:08}}
They exhibit some of the same qualities
and we think that despite the fact that

{{00:05:15}}
both of those economies have gone through
significant macro challenges they have

{{00:05:20}}
a lot to learn from each other and I
think that the African market is going to

{{00:05:24}}
start seeing more and more consolidation
and we'd like to build those corridors

{{00:05:29}}
between North and Sub Saharan Africa or
even within North Africa because that sort

{{00:05:35}}
of exchange is likely to significantly
propel and accelerate value creation.

{{00:05:41}}
We'd like to do more of that.

80 percent of our investments
are going into Egypt.

We have two funds, 150 mil in AUM roughly.

I think one thing that we realized
especially over the course of

FundOne, is that a lot of companies
in both North and Sub Saharan Africa

were approaching us with a view
to helping them expand into Egypt.

And now when we invest outside of
Egypt, which over the last two years,

So we have a very strong footprint
in Morocco, we have advanced deals

We try to position ourselves as either
a firm that can help those entrepreneurs

successfully launch into Egypt, or
leverage the patterns we've seen in Egypt.

That may be similar to what, the country
that the company is based in may be,

And to the extent that We've
seen that pattern in the past.

We may be able to help them
avoid some common pitfalls.

Egypt is always going to be our
core market and our core focus.

And I think our ability to create value
in Egypt is what gives us access to

But we are keen on leveraging a lot
of the know how that we've built

And trying to develop our footprint
across North and Sub Saharan Africa.

There are different strategies that
are applicable for different markets.

Morocco, for example, is where
Egypt was a few years ago.

Obviously there are idiosyncrasies
to every market and not everything

But we feel like having been down the
rabbit hole in Egypt we can anticipate

some of the future trends and developments
that will take place in Morocco.

Whereas Nigeria, for example,
is a completely different beast.

And when investing outside of
Egypt more generally, because we're

What we tend to do is partner with
a strong local VC whose judgment we

Outside of Egypt, it tends
to be Series A and beyond.

So we're sector agnostic, but thesis
driven, in the sense that we like to

cultivate a prepared mind, and when
we encounter certain patterns that we

think match areas of opportunity, then
we're more likely to invest quickly.

Generally speaking, some of our theses
are within the Fintech infrastructure

as a service space, we really like
infrastructure, Fintech infrastructure

as opposed to just Fintech, and we've
been heavily investing into that.

Agritech, we think is completely
underrepresented in venture, especially

in North Africa but constitutes a large
percentage of GDP and so there are

certain areas within Agritech that we're.

very likely to invest in, and
the list goes on so I think it's

a longer discussion, but sector
agnostic, however thesis driven.

We want to be a lot more on the ground
in certain key markets, Morocco, Kenya,

and Nigeria outside of Egypt are all
markets that We want to consistently

We've already done, two deals in
Morocco, where another three are

We have a couple of deals in Nigeria
that we're cultivating, but whereas

in Morocco we're at a fairly advanced
stage, I'd say we're still within

the preparation phase in terms of
understanding Kenya and Nigeria.

And one initiative that we're working on
right now is organizing an Egypt Nigeria

summit to try and bring together The
best entrepreneurs from both markets.

We think that there are a
lot of similarities between

They exhibit some of the same qualities
and we think that despite the fact that

both of those economies have gone through
significant macro challenges they have

a lot to learn from each other and I
think that the African market is going to

start seeing more and more consolidation
and we'd like to build those corridors

between North and Sub Saharan Africa or
even within North Africa because that sort

of exchange is likely to significantly
propel and accelerate value creation.

Expert Insight

Discover how Algebra Ventures is leveraging their expertise in Egypt to make big moves in Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria. At SuperReturn Africa, Omar Khashaba shares their strategy for investing in high-potential sectors like Fintech and Agritech, while building powerful partnerships across Africa. Don’t miss out on this insider’s look at Africa’s next wave of innovation!