First Circle Capital

First Circle Capital is a female-led, pan-African venture capital firm co-founded by Selma Ribica (former M-Pesa executive) and Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule (entrepreneur with frontier markets experience). The firm launched Africa Fund I in 2022, targeting $25--$30 million, and has raised $10.9 million to date with backing from IFC ($6 million, including $2 million from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative) and FSDAi Nyala Facility ($1 million, UK government-backed).

The portfolio spans 30+ companies across fintech verticals including lending, insurance, payments infrastructure, trade finance, and open banking. The firm deliberately avoids the crowded payments space, instead focusing on underserved fintech verticals like insurtech, alternative lending, regtech, interoperability, and climate fintech. Notable portfolio companies include Scale (card-issuing infrastructure), Credify (logistics and trade finance), Pumpkn (SME agribusiness financing), and Expensya (acquired by Swedish firm Medius for a nine-figure sum).