Egyptian based Acasia Ventures set up Lagos office to extend African reach

Acasia Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Acasia Group, has opened a new office in Lagos, Nigeria. The office will help the Egypt-based firm extend its reach across the African continent and connect with founders and stakeholders in the country.

Known as Cairo Angels until announcing a rebrand late last year, Acacia Group has been expanding its scope to cover the whole of the continent, and recently invested in the likes of Nigerian logistics startup Fez Delivery and Egyptian fintech company Balad.

In opening its Lagos office, Acasia Ventures states it is demonstrating its commitment to the continent and West Africa specifically. The office is situated at the City’s Impact Hub building, which is affiliated with a global network of locally-founded and -operated impact innovation incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, and non-profit organisations.

“We have our heritage in Egypt, but we really believe in the future of the whole continent. That is why our new office in Lagos should provide a platform to deepen our relationships with the market, by having an in-person presence in Nigeria,” said Acasia Ventures general partner Biola Alabi.

“As we’ve seen in previous economic crises, these are the times when companies that will shape the future for the better are built, and investing in those companies today is how we plan to contribute to Africa’s economic and social development.”

Acasia Ventures is also working to pave the way for its sister company Acasia Impact to work with corporations in Nigeria to build custom, sector-specific programmes around entrepreneurship and innovation.

“Our new office will be a destination that founders and stakeholders can come to and engage with us, and being at the heart of Impact Hub allows us to be at the center of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country,” Alabi said.

Acasia ventures has so far invested in 13 startups, 12 are located in Africa and two are based in Nigeria, namely Credpal and FEZ Delivery. As the Nigerian and global economic situation is going through a trying period with interest rates rising, the planet recovering from COVID-19, high inflation and fears of a global recession, the opportunity is massive.

“As we’ve seen in previous economic crises, these are the times when companies that will shape the future for the better are built, and investing in those companies today is how we plan to contribute to Africa’s economic and social development,” Alabi said.

The inauguration of the new office comes a few months after Acasia Group undertook a significant step in its regional expansion by setting up an office at the Dubai International Financial Centre for Innovation Hub in the United Arab Emirates.