How Chui Ventures Raised $17.3M and Beat Its Target by 73%

In a year when African venture capital hit a five-year low, with total funding sinking to $3.5 billion in 2024, Chui Ventures announced a final close of $17.3 million, a full 73% above its original $10 million target.

The remarkable achievement places the firm in rare company alongside Launch Africa and Ventures Platform, marking one of the few oversubscribed African fund closes since the VC winter began.

With 60% of its capital already deployed across 18 startups in five markets and a $60 million Fund II on the horizon, Chui isn’t simply raising money; it is putting forward a blueprint for what “African capital backing African innovation” looks like in practice.

The Visionaries: Gender-Lens Investing Meets a Pan-African Thesis

Founded in 2021, Chui Ventures is not a generic venture fund parachuting into Africa’s market; it is a firm shaped by context, inclusion, and execution discipline.

At its top is General Partner Joyce-Ann Wainaina, a former Citibank executive and 2023 East Africa Venture Capital Association “Woman Investor of the Year.” Her framing is uncompromising: African founders, especially women-led teams, are uniquely positioned to design and scale tech solutions for Africa’s mass markets, from informal retailers to smallholder farmers.

Chui’s investor base mirrors that thesis. More than 90% of its 30+ HNWIs are African, and 60% are women executives with deep family-office roots.

Anchor support from institutions such as the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, which committed $27 million across several emerging African managers, including Chui, and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation added institutional credibility and impact rigour. As Wainaina put it:

“Our vision is simple but powerful: For Africa, by Africa. Fund I shows that both global and local investors believe African founders can scale solutions that transform the continent.”

The Raise: How a $10M Goal Became $17.3M

Chui’s fundraising journey began with a first close in February 2023, then stretched across 30 months, a period defined by global VC retrenchment and a 40% drop in African deal activity.

Yet the fund not only stayed on course; it surged past target thanks to a balanced LP mix. Foundations supplied the catalytic capital; African family offices added long-term stability; HNWIs brought conviction, networks and diversity.

No single ticket dominated, mitigating concentration risk. Mastercard’s anchor role, part of its ~$200 million Africa mandate, served as a reputational signal that accelerated additional commitments.

LP Category	Key Players	Share / Contribution
Foundations	Mastercard Foundation AGF, Dell Foundation	40–50% of fund; anchor credibility and reporting standards
Family Offices	90%+ African origin	20–30%; patient capital aligned with seed horizons
HNWIs	30+ individuals, 60% African women	20–30%; networks, co-investments, market linkages

This structure protected the fund against macro volatility, blending impact-led institutions with local currency champions and high-conviction individual backers.

Portfolio Momentum: 18 Investments, Follow-Ons, and Early Traction

Rather than wait for its final close, Chui aggressively deployed capital with 18 deals into 22 planned spanning Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Senegal.

The portfolio covers fintech, logistics, healthtech, agritech and e-commerce, prioritising companies serving MSMEs and underserved households.

Notably, 5 of the 18 have already attracted follow-on rounds at higher valuations, with several tracking toward profitability in 2026.

Startup	Country / Sector	Chui’s Role & Results
Pricepally	Nigeria / Food e-commerce	$1.3M co-led; scaled past 10,000 users amid food inflation
Leta	Kenya / Supply chain logistics	AI routing for SMEs; ~30% efficiency gains and job creation
Uncover	Kenya / Healthtech	$1.4M round; female-led, expanding into five markets
Flex Finance	Ghana / B2B fintech	Tools for MSME spend management; 50,000+ users
Tappi	Kenya / SME digitization	$1.5M pre-seed; 20,000+ merchants onboarded

Impact outcomes reinforce the thesis: 1,200 direct jobs, 40,000+ indirect jobs, and more than 285,000 newly financially included users.

The gender lens is not cosmetic, with 44% of portfolio companies featuring at least one female founder, exceeding global VC norms by a wide margin.

Why Chui’s Model Resonates in a VC Winter

Fundraising success during a downturn rarely owes to luck. Chui benefited from three reinforcing dynamics.
First, local LP participation over 90% African reduced currency risk and signalled skin in the game.
Second, global mandates for gender-lens and inclusive investing aligned neatly with Chui’s strategy.
Third, the fund’s pace of deployment: 18 investments in 30 months demonstrated traction that many African funds lack, where dry powder often sits idle for years.

Momentum was further amplified by Mastercard’s Africa Growth Fund, which boosted the reputational halo around emerging managers, and by Wainaina’s own networks through AVCA, Yale, and global forums.

Meanwhile, macro tailwinds, including Africa’s projected $1.4 trillion digital economy, made seed-stage assets increasingly attractive to long-term LPs.

What’s Next: A $60M Fund II and a Broader Continental Footprint

With Fund I closed and vibrant, Chui is now preparing a $60 million Fund II, with a potential $100 million hard cap.

The next vehicle aims to deepen exposure to mass-market tech while expanding into North Africa (Egypt and Morocco) and emerging segments like climate tech, B2B SaaS, and women-focused digital health.

The strategy includes taking larger positions targeting 15–20% ownership in high-conviction winners while maintaining disciplined deployment to avoid overheating sectors.

The Bottom Line: African Capital Backing African Innovation

Chui Ventures’ $17.3 million close is more than a fundraising headline. It is a marker of Africa’s evolving VC story, one where African investors take the lead, where women sit at the decision-making table, and where mass-market tech defines the next decade of growth.

By beating its target by 73%, and doing so with a majority-African LP base, Chui has demonstrated that inclusive capital is not only possible but powerful.

As the firm gears up for Fund II, the message resonates clearly across the continent’s startup landscape: when Africa backs Africa, outperformance follows.

Kenya’s startup ecosystem

Kenya’s startup ecosystem continues to thrive, with Kenya venture capital activity accelerating as more funds are set up in Nairobi.

Firms like Chui Ventures are helping shape the landscape, offering early-stage funding and mentorship to high-growth founders.

As interest in venture capital in Nairobi rises, entrepreneurs are increasingly seeking out the most innovative venture capital firms in Kenya to scale their businesses.

Today, the city is home to some of the top venture capital in Nairobi, with investors competing to back the region’s most promising tech talent.

For founders looking for strategic partners, choosing the best venture capital in Nairobi can be a game-changer for building sustainable, globally competitive companies.

Ronnie Paul is a seasoned writer and analyst with a prolific portfolio of over 1,000 published articles, specialising in fintech, cryptocurrency, climate change, and digital finance at Africa Digest News.