Norrsken22 closes $205m growth fund to address funding decline in Africa

Norrsken22, a tech growth equity fund, has announced that it has closed its first African technology growth fund at $205m, surpassing its target of $200m. 

In a press release sent to Technext, the investment company disclosed that it received strong support from unicorn founders and institutional investors to address a significant gap in growth-stage tech funding in Africa.

Norrsken22 was established in 2022 by Niklas Adalberth (Founder of the Norrsken Foundation and payments unicorn, Klarna) and Hans Otterling, Partner of technology investment firm Northzone, and another investing team. 

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Norrsken22 is pan-African and has teams on the ground in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana. At its inception, the fund was supported by over 30 unicorn founders, including Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder of Flutterwave, Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype, Jacob de Geer, co-founder of iZettle, Niklas Östberg, co-founder Delivery Hero, Carl Manneh, co-founder of Mojang, Sebastian Knutsson, co-founder of King, and Willard Ahdritz, founder of Kobalt Music.

The firm was founded on the belief that scalable entrepreneurship drives long-term and sustainable economic growth. Norrsken22 is focused on entrepreneurs developing fintech, edtech, medtech and market-enabling solutions that will deliver strong returns and have a positive impact across Africa. 

Norrsken22 to address funding decline in Africa

According to Lexi Novitske, Managing Partner at Norrsken22 who spoke to Technext, African tech funding has dropped in the past couple of quarters. She said:

“With the close of our fund exceeding our $200 million target we are excited to be able to catalyze the growth of Africa’s strongest tech companies.”

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Also, she believes Africa has the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world. Coupling this with rapid digital adoption, a fast-growing population, and large-scale problems to solve, Norrsken22 believes Africa is the most attractive investment destination globally. 

“I think Africa is probably the largest untapped market in the world today. The tech ecosystem has certainly shown a huge wave of growth, and a lot of successes; but it’s only the tip of the golden iceberg” – Lexi Novitske, Managing Partner at Norrsken22.

What this means for the African tech ecosystem 

Per Natalie Kolbe, Managing Partner of Norrsken22, the timing of the fund ideally positions Norrsken22 to support a growing African tech tailwind.  

Also, she says the transformative power of technology can leapfrog traditional ways of doing business, and Africa has the opportunity to lead the World with its solutions. 

“We are excited to be partnering with so many promising startups that can have a positive impact across Africa. We are delighted to see an active and growing early-stage investor community growing across the continent, however, we still see a gap at growth stage tech funding in the continent. We see a huge opportunity here, and are excited to continue investing at this stage” 

The founder of Norrsken Foundation, Niklas Adalberth, said Africa has the youngest population globally and its upcoming digital-first generation is the future of Africa and the world. 

“We’re delighted to announce this final close and with the support the fund has received. There are huge opportunities in Africa. We are excited to continue our mission of driving funding into African tech, and creating jobs and sustainable growth in the region.”