Launch Africa Ventures has been appointed investment adviser to the Botswana Tech Fund, a new multi-stage vehicle focused on technology and tech-enabled businesses across Southern Africa, in a move that underscores rising investor interest in the region’s underfunded digital economy. The fund is designed to back startups from pre-seed through later growth stages while helping close a persistent gap in institutional capital for companies digitizing the real economy. The mandate also strengthens Launch Africa’s managed-accounts strategy, under which the firm advises on third-party investment vehicles.
A Bet on Southern Africa’s Digital Economy
The Botswana Tech Fund is targeting total commitments of £50 million, with the first phase expected to deploy up to £5 million. According to the announcement, that initial capital will be spread across a pre-seed accelerator cohort and a limited number of growth-stage investments, including both primary and secondary deals. The structure is intended to support founders from the earliest stages of company building through more mature expansion rounds.
The launch comes as investors increasingly view Southern Africa as an undercapitalized but strategically important digital market. Backers of the fund argue that core infrastructure has improved materially in recent years, creating stronger conditions for digital services and tech-enabled business models to scale. In Botswana, internet penetration is cited at around 80 percent, placing the country among the more connected markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund’s core thesis is that major opportunity now lies not only in digital infrastructure itself, but in the application layer and business-enablement rails serving established sectors. Supporters say entrepreneurs in Southern Africa have often built companies without the level of institutional venture backing available in larger African startup ecosystems. The Botswana Tech Fund is being positioned as a way to address that imbalance and accelerate digitization across the region.
Fund Structure and Leadership
The fund is anchored by Pula Investments, the family office of Hargreaves Lansdown co-founder Stephen Lansdown. It is led by Managing Partner Martin Davis, the former chief executive of Molten Ventures, where he oversaw substantial portfolio growth during his tenure. Florence Bavanandan, who also serves as Head of Platform and Operations at Launch Africa Ventures, has been named General Partner of the Botswana Tech Fund.
Launch Africa said the advisory appointment fits into its wider strategy of expanding beyond direct balance-sheet investing. Founded in 2020, the firm says it has deployed $65 million across more than 170 startups in 25 countries and supported over 300 founders. The company also states that its portfolio activity has helped generate more than $3 billion in market capitalization across its funds.
Why Botswana Is Central to the Strategy
Botswana is being presented as a strategic base for the fund rather than simply a jurisdiction of convenience. The country is regularly recognized for governance quality and macroeconomic stability, and it sits within the Southern African Development Community, a 16-country market of more than 370 million people. For founders with regional ambitions, the fund’s backers argue that Botswana offers both regulatory credibility and access to major trade corridors.
The Botswana Tech Fund has also established a partnership with the Botswana Innovation Hub, which is expected to give portfolio companies a physical base and closer ties to the local innovation ecosystem. That relationship is intended to strengthen sourcing, improve market access and support execution on the ground. The fund itself is domiciled in Guernsey and described as being powered by Launch Africa Ventures.
Investment Approach and Market Signal
The fund will operate through a dual-track strategy aimed at serving businesses at different stages of development. Its accelerator program will invest between £25,000 and £100,000 in pre-seed startups based in Southern Africa, pairing capital with structured support and operational guidance. The second strategy will target revenue-generating businesses from Seed through Series C, deploying between £500,000 and £2 million into companies based in or expanding into the region.
In public posts accompanying the announcement, Launch Africa and Bavanandan highlighted the value of secondary transactions in African venture markets, where liquidity timelines are often longer than in more developed ecosystems. That emphasis suggests the fund may play a broader role in recycling capital and strengthening the region’s startup financing environment. It also points to a growing effort to build venture structures that better reflect the realities of African private-market investing.
The appointment of Launch Africa Ventures as adviser to the Botswana Tech Fund marks a notable development for Southern Africa’s investment landscape. By combining pre-seed backing, growth capital and secondary flexibility, the fund is positioning itself as a long-term platform for startups digitizing the region’s economy. With Botswana serving as its strategic base and applications for the first cohort now open, the initiative could become an important test of whether tailored venture models can unlock overlooked markets across the continent.