P1 Ventures, the Pan-African Seed VC fund announced it completed the first 25 million USD close of its second fund, according to a company statement.

Founded in 2020, P1 Ventures is focusing on a small number of African founders and companies building transformational software businesses with regional and global potential. P1 Ventures works with founders across areas of fintech, e-commerce, health tech, SaaS, and AI in the US, Europe, and Asia. 

The VC fund is managed by strong background founders: Mikael Hajjar, an engineer and Stanford MBA graduate; Hisham Halbouny, an early investor in Uber, Airbnb, and Bolt as well as Managing Director at EFG Hermes, the region’s largest investment bank. 

Mikael Hajjar said: “As far I know, I’m the first Mauritanian who’s ever launched a fund. Coming from a relatively small economy inspires us at P1 Ventures to go off the beaten path and back the underdogs. 

“We love ambitious African founders who build products and services addressing a regional, if not global, customer base. Combining our deep local knowledge, our strong data orientation, and our experience as investors, we can identify unique opportunities and help entrepreneurs become global winners,” Hajjar added.

Hisham Halbouny added: “Every globally minded asset allocator has been actively seeking exposure to the continent. We’ve witnessed similar inflexion points in other regions, such as Europe and Latin America, where leading VC firms like Index and Kaszek Ventures have emerged.”

P1 Ventures has injected funds into 29 early-stage companies across 10 countries including Money Fellows in Egypt, and Reliance Health in Nigeria where P1 has a presence. The firm’s early investment was in Yassir in Algeria – a super-app operating in Francophone Africa. 

“By 2040, Africa is expected to be home to 12 cities of more than ten million people. Over the next two decades, more than 500 million people will migrate to its cities creating the largest total number of urban dwellers in the world. By 2050, one-third of Africans will be under 35 emphasising the rapid digitisation of the continent and the opportunities for startups across all sectors,” according to the statement.  

“Innovation across the African continent is booming and P1 is ideally positioned to help African entrepreneurs at the earliest stages build a valuable and enduring business,” senior advisory committee member Bernard Dalle said.