We work to deliver competitive commercial returns while realising the highest standards of impact and Environmental, Social and Governance work.
Beta.Ventures’ approach to sustainability is founded on the belief that economic growth, driven by private sector development, is crucial to poverty alleviation.
Our portfolio is based in low-middle-income countries in Africa where capital and youth employment opportunities are scarce; and our investments are early-stage investments, driving development and growth in addition to delivering attractive returns.
Through our investments and technical support to our portfolio, Beta.Ventures is committed to supporting the growth and establishment of local companies in core sectors that drive the economies in which we invest. This is especially true for certain sectors, such as financial services, which is critical to ensuring the inclusion of African citizens in the formal economy.
With operations in over 14 African countries, our portfolio’s operations indirectly supports over 4,500 jobs. In addition to supporting sustainability through investment, Beta.Ventures is in discussions with a local group to assist them with their decarbonization projects by preserving mangroves in Africa cities to reduce the impact of climate change. Our CSR report will have more detail.
Case Studies
Smile Identity
Betastore
Countries Operating In: 7; Sector: Technology; Industry: Fintech
On-boarding, authenticating, and identifying consumers via digital facial recognition. Its products are critical pieces of the digital infrastructure to onboard millions of Africans unto the digital economy irrespective of their identity status.
Countries Operating In: 3; Sector: eCommerce; Industry: FMCG
Beta.Ventures was the first African VC firm to back Betastore to solve stockouts, and financing challenges for the millions of informal street retailers (mostly women) in Africa. 80% of household retail in sub-Saharan Africa is delivered via informal channels, which perennially face stockouts, leading to instability in earnings that affect the mostly female retailers and significant contributors to their families’ income. The BetaStore marketplace enables these informal traders to source FMCGs directly from manufacturers or distributors as well as to access working capital at favorable terms.
BFREE
Edves
Countries Operating In: 2; Sector: BPO; Industry: Fintech
Ethical digital collections agency for digital lending institutions across Africa. BFREE is filling a missing piece of the micro-lending fintech value chain – ethically collecting outstanding micro-loans as well as providing financial literacy to the borrowers
Countries Operating In: 10; Sector: Services; Industry: Education
Edves is a Web and Mobile App automating learning and admin tasks for African primary and secondary schools. The company’s goal is to automate tedious and manual processes around Learning, Administration, Finance and Communication in schools. This ensures schools will do less paperwork and the productivity/accountability of schools would increase. Currently, Edves is serving over 1,600 schools and 214,000 students spread across 10 counties in Africa and in the UK.