Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures

Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) is a pan-African venture capital firm born from the 2022 merger of Kepple Africa Ventures (a prolific Tokyo-based early-stage investor in Africa) and Verod Capital (one of West Africa's most established private equity firms). The combined entity closed its inaugural fund at $60 million in April 2024, with $17.5 million already deployed across 12 companies at the time of close.

What makes VKAV genuinely unique is the Japan-Africa bridge. The LP base is dominated by major Japanese institutional investors: SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan ICT Fund, Taiyo Holdings, and C2C Global Education Japan. Nigeria's SCM Capital rounds out the investor base. This means portfolio companies get direct access to Japanese corporate partners, distribution channels, and follow-on capital that no other Africa-focused fund can offer.

The firm has made 21 investments to date across Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Ivory Coast, and South Africa, with increasing interest in Angola, Zambia, DRC, and Tunisia. The team looks for companies building infrastructure for the digital economy, solving inefficiencies for businesses, and creating markets for Africa's emerging consumer population. They have a growing focus on vertical ERP startups, embedded financial services, and future-of-work solutions, and they are increasingly evaluating opportunities through an AI and GenAI lens.

The leadership team brings together Ory Okolloh (one of Africa's most prominent tech figures, known for co-founding Ushahidi and leading Google's Africa policy work) with experienced operators from the Verod private equity and Kepple venture capital ecosystems.