“In finance, you think you’re really smart, but there are a lot of things you don’t know until you’re an entrepreneur yourself,” says Angela Homsi, cofounder and CEO of Angaza Capital. She speaks from experience on both counts. She started her career at Goldman Sachs and later worked with Sir Ronald Cohen, the “father of social investment.” This background equipped her with sharp investment skills, but cofounding solar tech company Ignite Power and growing it to provide vital resources to 1.1 million people in Africa showed her that “there’s a whole other resilience you need to have as an entrepreneur.”

Today, Angela uses her knowledge and experience to back entrepreneurs whose businesses will have a significant impact on their wider communities. The Rwanda Innovation Fund (RIF) is managed by Angaza Capital with the aim of investing in emerging markets where tech-enabled solutions are solving real problems. Angela uses the lessons she learned early in her career, including smart capital, maximizing strengths and finding synergies, to select the most promising startups in fintech, healthtech, agritech and smart logistics, among other tech industries. Then she helps them succeed in solving Africa and the Middle East’s most critical sustainability challenges.

The RIF team comprises global investors and entrepreneurs who have launched, led, grown, pivoted and exited companies, bringing their own experience of success and struggle to the collective expertise of the organization. Their hands-on guidance, connections, assistance with strategy, operational support and cross-border growth support are combined with smart capital backed by the African Development Bank, the government of Rwanda and leading financiers. With these resources behind them, RIF’s investees are well equipped to serve their communities and expand their smart solutions to an international scale. 

Provide a useful, tech-enabled solution.
We’re looking for startups that identify real problems in society and make use of technology to address them. 

Build towards a sustainable future.
From distributed infrastructure in the form of solar power and community gardens to the soft infrastructure of education and medical care solutions, we’re interested in innovative solutions that care for people and the planet. 

Provide the evidence behind your ideas. 
We invest at the early growth stage, so we simply need to see very nascent revenue that demonstrates commercial traction and proof that the tech is working.

Focus on solutions for African people. 
Whether you’re Africa-based or Africa-led, you should have the aim of creating a product that serves the continent’s needs. 

angazacapital.com/the-rwanda-innovation-fund

Main Photo by Yael Amir