Factor[e] Ventures launches African venture studio Delta40 to invest in African Startups

Factor[e] Ventures, a venture-building firm that invests in early-stage companies in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, has launched a new venture studio for African startups, called Delta40.

The venture studio will be based in Kenya and will also have operations in Nigeria, with plans to invest between $100,000 to $600,000 in energy, agriculture, and mobility startups.

The studio has secured early funding from several investors, including the IKEA Foundation, the Autodesk Foundation, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), the Bezos Earth Fund, and Wilson Sonisi, as well as government, private sector, and finance institutions.

Delta40 aims to derisk sectors typically ignored by investors, such as agriculture, energy, and mobility, by offering co-founder services such as product testing, technology brokering, and early-stage commercialisation.

Lyndsay Holley Handler, the co-founder and managing partner of Delta40, believes that the venture studio model can dramatically increase the speed and success of innovation from idea to scale to exit.

According to Partech’s 2022 Africa tech VC report, the energy, agriculture, and mobility sectors accounted for less than 8% of total funding on the continent last year.

Delta40 aims to reduce the effects of climate change in Africa by supporting local and diverse founders as they connect their technologies and markets. The venture studio has already started building six startups and is actively evaluating new ideas.