Casablanca-based Outlierz Ventures has carved a clear role in Africa’s early-stage investment landscape since launching in 2017. The active venture capital firm backs founders digitising traditional industries across the continent’s major tech hubs, combining capital with networks to accelerate market access. With two funds, Outlierz targets companies at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Pre-Series A, writing checks from $50,000 to $1 million. Its mandate spans Africa, with a particular emphasis on Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, and extends to African diaspora founders building globally, an intentional effort to address persistent capital gaps.
Strategy and Focus
Outlierz invests in startups solving fundamental problems in sectors prime for technology-led transformation: logistics, fintech, agritech, healthtech, insurtech, and distribution. The firm’s investment strategy centers on founders modernizing core economic pillars where digitization can unlock step-change efficiency and scale. While stage-agnostic within the earliest funding rounds, Outlierz’ second fund prefers to lead or co-lead financings when the opportunity aligns, signaling conviction and enabling it to help set strong governance and growth trajectories from the start.
Leadership
Founder and Managing Partner Kenza Lahlou brings a multidisciplinary background that spans software engineering, management consulting, private equity, and venture capital across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United States. She began her career as a computer science engineer in France before earning a Master of Strategy and International Business from ESSEC Business School in Singapore and completing a Leadership Executive Program at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2016. Lahlou is also a Kauffman Fellow (Class 25), a credential that underscores her long-standing commitment to ecosystem building. Before Outlierz, she co-founded StartupYourLife, one of Morocco’s pioneering tech communities, connecting founders to mentors and investors. This experience continues to inform the firm’s network-led approach.
Investment manager Diego Arias Garcia leads the investment process from sourcing through closing, portfolio monitoring, and platform building. He previously deployed capital in Africa for Plug and Play, the Silicon Valley accelerator and early-stage investor, and worked with U.S. healthcare corporates. His operating experience as a growth lead at a VC-backed startup complements Outlierz’s hands-on support model.
Portfolio and Recent Developments
Outlierz reports 16 investments to date and highlights a cross-continental portfolio that mirrors its sector priorities. Notable companies include logistics and supply chain players, fintechs modernising payments and financial services, and healthtech platforms scaling access across Egypt and the wider MENA region. Recent activity illustrates the firm’s momentum: Fund I portfolio company PayTic raised $4 million to expand its automated payment reconciliation platform across Africa, MENA, and Europe. Outlierz also participated in Socium’s $5 million Seed+ round to scale HR software for SMEs in Francophone Africa. Additional recognised portfolio names include Freterium and Socium, reflecting the firm’s emphasis on infrastructure-layer tools that enable regional growth.
Value-Add and Market Bridge
Beyond capital, Outlierz positions itself as a connector. The firm offers portfolio founders access to a deep bench of industry experts and actively builds bridges between North and Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on opening doors in Francophone markets. This cross-regional posture is designed to help startups navigate expansion pathways that are often fragmented by language, regulation, and distribution. The approach also extends to diaspora founders, whom Outlierz backs wherever they are based, recognising both their market insight and the additional hurdles they can face in fundraising.
With a disciplined thesis at the earliest stages, a network-first operating model, and a leadership team steeped in both technology and investment, Outlierz Ventures has become a distinctive seed investor from its base in Casablanca. Its focus on digitising essential industries aligns with where technology can deliver outsized impact across Africa’s economies. As portfolio companies like PayTic and Socium step up their regional expansion, Outlierz’s combination of capital, counsel, and connectivity positions the firm to keep shaping the continent’s next generation of category leaders.