Venture capital: financing the creation of companies in French-speaking West Africa
We take stakes in newly created companies whose offer answers an identified demand, in the WAEMU area and across the rest of French-speaking Africa. Our funds backed, among others, the early days of Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire, then the growth of Mansa Bank.
- Minimum amount reviewed
- 1.3bn FCFA (€2m)
- Per company (€2m to €10m)
- 1.3 to 6.5bn FCFA
- Equity stake
- Minority
- Horizon of our involvement
- 3 to 5 years
Our venture capital offer for newly created companies
We provide equity or quasi-equity to a company that has no financial track record yet. In return, we become a minority shareholder and sit on its board, alongside the founders.
To grant a loan, banks usually ask for balance sheets and collateral that a newly created company does not yet have. We are paid differently: when we sell our stake, usually after three to five years, on the value the company has gained. It has no instalments to repay us.
Our review threshold of 1.3 billion FCFA, around 2 million euros, points us towards creations that are already structured: a bank, an industrial unit, a subsidiary of a group. With Cauris IV Fund, our tickets range from 1.3 to 6.5bn FCFA (€2m to €10m) per company.
Venture capital or growth capital
Venture capital finances the creation or the first years of a company; growth capital finances the growth of a company that already has several closed financial years.
Two creations backed by our funds
Cauris Croissance Fund took a stake in Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire at its creation; Yeelen Financial Fund financed Mansa Bank four years after it started trading.
Mansa Bank
- 2020The Ivorian commercial bank starts trading.
- 2024Yeelen Financial Fund invests 5 billion FCFA, that is €7.62m, in a subordinated loan convertible into shares.The release
- The planStrengthen equity, increase lending to SMEs, digitise processes.
The four points we check in a creation project
Before investing in a creation, our investment officers check four points, on top of the three review conditions common to all our business lines.
A documented demand
The customers targeted, their purchasing power, the competition and the sector’s regulation. An early commercial test, where one exists, weighs in our analysis.
A founding team that has done it before
We look at the founders’ track record in the sector and their ability to recruit the profiles they lack.
A business model with figures
A business plan of 15 to 20 pages and forecast financial statements over three to five years, which we work through with the founders.
Acceptance of a governance framework
A board on which we sit, a shareholders’ agreement and regular reporting from the first year, in line with our approach to governance.
The five stages of an investment in a creation
From the first meeting to the sale of our stake, we lead every stage with the founders.
- 01
Qualify the market need
Demand, competition, growth potential.
- 02
Assess the project and the founders
Consistency of the model, skills, ability to execute.
- 03
Structure the investment
Modelling, amount, instruments, shareholders’ agreement.
- 04
Put governance in place
Board, committees, steering indicators.
- 05
Support through to exit
Network, follow-on rounds, preparing the sale.
Sectors and project holders we support
We also study projects in other sectors, provided they answer an identified demand in the WAEMU or in French-speaking Africa.
- Industry and local processing agribusiness
- Business services and financial services
- Modern retail and structured value chains
- Health and education
- Energy and productive infrastructure
- Digital economy with an established business model
- 01Entrepreneurs creating a structured company in the WAEMU or in French-speaking Africa
- 02Founding teams that have validated their market and are looking for an institutional shareholder
- 03Family and industrial groups creating a subsidiary
- 04Co-investors and development institutions wishing to join our funds
Present your company creation project
In the questionnaire, choose « Create » at the first step: the following screens adapt to a company that has not closed a financial year yet.