What Wuri Ventures does

Wuri Ventures is an Africa-focused early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019 and headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, with a secondary office in Redwood City, California. The firm invests across all 54 African countries, prioritizing founders with the capacity and intention to scale multi-country, and structures its strategy around four investment pillars: Liquidity, Real Economy, Multi-country Scaling, and Leapfrogging. The 5-10 person team is led by co-founders Tijan Watt (formerly Goldman Sachs, operator of a Senegalese FMCG company reaching $15M revenue) and Jerome Cretegny (former IFC country manager overseeing a $150M West Africa portfolio), with a Senior Associate drawn from McKinsey and Hyundai's eVTOL unit.

The firm's core products are two investment vehicles and a founder-development program. Wuri Ventures I is the main institutional fund; the Wuri Ventures Access Fund is a quarterly rolling vehicle hosted on AngelList that opens African deal flow to accredited individual investors and targets up to 20 investments over a 2-year period. The Wuri Ventures Fellows Program is a 3-month accelerator-style engagement that provides weekly office hours, guest lectures, and strategic deep dives, culminating in an investor expo where vetted founders pitch directly to global investors, with Wuri typically co-investing. Wuri also publishes annual investment theses (2019-2025) documenting its market view and uses co-investment network analytics to support sourcing and diligence. There is no proprietary technology product; the firm operates as a people- and network-driven investment platform.

Wuri generates revenue through conventional VC economics: management fees on committed fund capital across both vehicles, plus carried interest on realized gains. Deal flow originates from direct outreach, network relationships, and the proprietary Fellows Program pipeline, and is supplemented by an active thought-leadership and event strategy (annual theses, quarterly newsletters, AfricArena participation, Gorée Island launch). Disclosed portfolio includes Wave (Senegalese fintech, $1.7B unicorn), Carry1st (gaming, $6M Series A led by Riot Games), WhereIsMyTransport (mobility data, $14.5M Series A Extension with Naspers and Samsung), Kotani Pay (USSD/SMS blockchain wallet, $800K seed), Norebase (legaltech, $1M seed), and Cauri Money (diaspora digital banking, $400K pre-seed). Fund size, AUM, and revenue are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Wuri Ventures

Legal name

WURI Ventures

Website

https://wuri.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wuri Ventures is a Dakar-based early-stage venture capital firm investing across all 54 African countries via two funds and a 3-month Fellows Program, targeting founders in fintech, mobility, gaming, logistics, and agritech with multi-country scaling potential.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• African startups
• Pre-seed funding
• Seed funding
• Francophone africa

Headquarters

HQ city

Dakar

HQ country

Senegal

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Wuri Ventures generates returns through management fees and carried interest from their venture funds. The main institutional fund (Wuri Ventures I) and the Wuri Ventures Access Fund for accredited investors provide exposure to African startups.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wuri Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage African technology startups, primarily from pre-seed through Series A. The firm operates two investment vehicles — the Wuri Ventures I institutional fund and the Wuri Ventures Access Fund (a quarterly rolling fund hosted on AngelList for accredited investors) — and runs a three-month Fellows Program that prepares founders for investment readiness through weekly office hours, guest lectures, and an investor expo.

Product overview

Wuri Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in African startups, headquartered in Dakar, Senegal with offices in Redwood City, CA. The firm operates two main investment vehicles: Wuri Ventures I (institutional fund) and the Wuri Ventures Access Fund (quarterly rolling fund on AngelList for accredited investors). The firm also runs a Fellows Program, a 3-month intensive program that works with early-stage founders to achieve investment readiness, culminating in an investor expo. Wuri Ventures publishes annual investment theses documenting their strategy and market perspective on African technology investment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wuri Ventures Access Fund: A quarterly rolling fund hosted by AngelList providing accredited investors access to African startup investments, investing alongside the main institutional fund Wuri Ventures I.
• Wuri Ventures Fellows Program

Products and services

• Wuri Ventures Access Fund A quarterly rolling fund hosted on AngelList, open to accredited individual investors. The fund targets up to 20 investments over a 2-year period and invests alongside the main Wuri Ventures I institutional fund, providing exposure to African startups across fintech, media, FMCG distribution, edtech, mobility, and e-commerce sectors.
• Wuri Ventures Fellows Program A 3-month accelerator-style program for early-stage founders. Fellows receive weekly office hours, guest lectures, and strategic guidance to reach investment readiness. The program culminates in an investor expo where founders pitch directly to global investors, with Wuri Ventures typically co-investing alongside participating investors.
• Wuri Ventures I (Institutional Fund) The main venture capital fund for institutional investors focused on African startups. The fund follows four investment pillars: Liquidity, Real Economy, Multi-country Scaling, and Leapfrogging.
• Wuri Ventures Investment Thesis Annual investment theses published by Wuri Ventures documenting their investment strategy and market outlook for African startups. Published annually from 2019 through 2025, covering themes such as collective action, complex systems, and Africa's digital transformation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio company Wave achieved unicorn status at $1.7B valuation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Launch Africa: Pan-African early-stage VC that co-invested with Wuri on Cauri Money. Comparable as a multi-stage Africa VC investing in similar sectors and stage.
• Partech: Pan-African venture capital firm with a Paris and Dakar presence investing across early and growth stages in African tech. Most directly comparable to Wuri on Africa focus, Francophone exposure, and stage.
• TLcom Capital: Africa-focused early-stage VC investing across the continent in fintech, edtech, and mobility. Directly comparable as a multi-stage African VC with a similar sector and geography footprint.
• Novastar Ventures: East Africa-focused early-stage VC backing African tech startups. Comparable as an Africa-only, stage-aligned, founder-supportive fund targeting similar multi-country scaling thesis.
• 4DX Ventures: Africa-focused early-stage VC investing in tech-enabled startups across the continent. Comparable as a sector-focused Africa VC with similar pre-seed/seed stage and pan-African thesis.
• Future Africa: Africa-focused early-stage VC (noted Wuri co-investor on Norebase). Comparable as a pan-African, founder-supportive fund with similar sector and stage coverage.
• Consonance Investment Managers: Africa-focused early-stage VC backing tech-enabled startups. Comparable as a pan-African, Africa-only fund with a similar stage and founder-supportive approach.
• Capria Ventures: Global impact-focused VC firm and capital partner of Wuri Ventures, co-investing in WhereIsMyTransport. Comparable as a fund-of-funds and direct investor in emerging market tech with similar Africa exposure.

Broad incumbents

• Naspers: Global internet and media group with deep African tech investment activity through Naspers Foundry and Prosus. Comparable as a major co-investor in Wuri's portfolio (WhereIsMyTransport) and as a large-scale African tech capital provider.
• Sequoia Heritage: Long-duration capital partner of Sequoia Capital that co-led Wave's $200M round alongside Wuri. Comparable as a deep-pocketed global investor active in African tech at scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wuri-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments18 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wuri Ventures