“We partner with founders building software and internet-first companies that facilitate the efficient movement of capital and essential products across Africa.”
The Raba Partnership is a Cape Town-based venture fund founded in 2019 by George Rzepecki, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs, Shumway Capital, and Glynn Capital. The firm closed its second fund (Raba Partnership II) at $59.6 million in late 2024, which gives it a total deployment capacity that makes it one of the more substantial early-stage Africa-focused funds.
What makes Raba fundamentally different from most African VCs is the scout network and the partnership model. The firm's scouts include some of Africa's most prominent tech founders: Iyin Aboyeji (co-founder of Flutterwave and Andela), Katlego Maphai (founder of Yoco), Grant Brooke (co-founder of Twiga Foods), Omar Hagrass (founder of Trella), Seif Amr (founder of THNDR), and Iqram Magdon-Ismail (co-founder of Venmo). Cordel Robbin-Coker, founder of Carry1st, serves as Venture Partner. This means Raba's deal flow is sourced by operators who have built and scaled exactly the kind of companies the fund invests in, which gives the team a proprietary pipeline that most funds cannot replicate.
The portfolio is heavily weighted toward fintech and payments infrastructure, with 26 of 48 companies in that category. Flutterwave (pan-African payments infrastructure), Yoco (South African card payments), VALR (digital asset exchange), Djamo (digital banking for Francophone Africa), Stitch (payments infrastructure in South Africa, raised $25M Series A extension), and OnePipe (API-based financial services in Nigeria) anchor the fintech thesis. The firm also invests in logistics (Kobo360, Twiga, Lori Systems), healthcare (mPharma, 54gene, Pandora), crypto and stablecoins (YellowCard, BVNK, Bitnob, Nestcoin), and climate (Cloudline, AMMP).
The investment philosophy emphasises an "unconventional thesis, rigorous investment process, and longer-term horizon than traditional participants." Raba positions itself as a long-term business partner rather than a traditional fund manager, and the fact that the founding team are among the largest LPs in the funds signals strong alignment with founders.
| Name | Role | X/Twitter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Rzepecki | Founder and CEO | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Nina Chen | Investor | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Cordel Robbin-Coker | Venture Partner | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Iyin Aboyeji | Scout (Nigeria) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Katlego Maphai | Scout (South Africa) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |