Endure Capital closes first round of $50 million fund

Endure Capital announced that it has completed the first close of its new $50 million fund to invest in early-stage startups in pan-Africa. The fund, Endure 21, is Endure Capital’s second early-stage venture capital fund and will focus its investments primarily on impact-driven early-stage startups in Africa, with a selective approach to investing in growth-stage startups globally.

The limited partners who have invested in the fund include British International Investment (BII) – the UK’s Development Finance Institution and impact investor, formerly known as CDC Group; The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) – Egypt’s Social Fund for Development; and founders of different leading startups of the region. 

“BII is excited to be partnering with Endure Capital, a well-embedded leading local fund manager in Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I am delighted that our partnership on Endure21 will help support the next generation of visionary entrepreneurs in Egypt, providing them with the capital to build transformative businesses that are creating innovative solutions and accelerating productive, sustainable and inclusive growth across society.” commented Abhinav Sinha, Managing Director and Head of Technology and Telecoms, British International Investment.

“MSMEDA is proud to partner with Endure Capital to promote the Egyptian economy by supporting the entrepreneurial environment and enabling young innovators and entrepreneurs,” commented Hany Emad, Director and Head of the central sector for financing small projects at MSMEDA.

Launched in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Tarek Fahim, Endure Capital has established itself as one of the leading VC firms in the region. Its first fund was one of the early institutional investors in Careem which was acquired by Uber for $3.1 billion in 2019. The acquisition remains the biggest tech exit the Middle East has seen. The investments from Endure’s first fund also include regional B2B e-commerce leader MaxAB and Breadfast, the grocery delivery startup that has pioneered dark stores in Egypt. 

Endure’s debut portfolio also includes international iconic startups such as Boom Supersonic, Tribal Credit, and Aspect Biosystems. The first fund has made a 43 per cent IRR and 4.3x multiple on its investments, which puts it in the top quartile of performing funds of its vintage year. 

Commenting on the first close of its second fund, Endure Capital’s founder Tarek Fahim, said, “Endure is committed to adding value to the region’s flourishing startup founders, and ecosystem, and we love to partner with founders that relentlessly pursue entrepreneurship as a means for value creation to society and who are building lasting businesses.” 

With Endure 21, the firm will follow a sector-agnostic approach and invest in 24 companies. Endure Capital will reserve half the fund for follow-on investments in its top-performing companies from its portfolio. 

For its second fund, Mohamed Noweir joined Endure Capital as a partner to lead the investment team. Noweir has over 15 years of business and startup experience across IBM, McKinsey & Company, Careem, and Rocket Internet. 

The new fund has already made several investments including co-leading Series A of Brimore, Egypt’s leading social commerce platform; investing in Cassbana, a BNPL alternative credit solution for SMEs; and in Pylon, a smart infrastructure startup providing a subscription-based “Smart Metering as a Service” (SMaaS) for electricity and water companies in emerging markets.

“There are a lot of exceptional founders in the region and we are super excited to partner with them early on in their entrepreneurial journey. And we are also thrilled to kickstart “Endure…Pay it Forward” initiative where we work with our portfolio founders to mentor aspiring founders and give back to our new budding startup environment.” commented Mohamed Noweir.

Endure has also launched the Endure Opportunity Fund which will double down on its previous top investments. “We are here to serve our founders in the long-term, and want to invest in their startups’ entire lifecycle – our strategy as a firm is to provide patient, long-term support to entrepreneurs,” concluded Tarek Fahim.