OpenseedVC launches $10M fund for early-stage African startups.

OpenseedVC, a venture capital company focused on backing early-stage startups in Africa and Europe, has launched its angel-style early-stage fund. The company also announced that it had closed $10 million in funding upon its launch, which was described as a first close.

General partner at OpenseedVC, Maria Rotilu, said the fundraising will go well into the millions and that the fundraising is still in progress, even though they did not specify how much they are looking to raise. She, however, disclosed that the VC hopes to reach the final close within a year.

The VC’s focus is to provide a new kind of venture funding for early-stage startups, which would provide financing as well as something else they need even more importantly, guidance from successful founders and startup operators.

OpenseedVC's vision to invest and mentor early-stage startups

Maria Rotilu founded london-based OpenseedVC with a vision to invest in early-stage, inexperienced operators who are looking to launch their technology companies in solving real problems. The VC said it would provide these founders with capital and conviction at the earliest stages and the support of a community of seasoned operators, which currently comprises more than 50 successful operators.

“If you’re supporting operators that have identified a problem and are making the leap into building their technology, you’ve likely recognized a common challenge: the need for capital and guidance from other experienced individuals. To address this, we focus on enhancing the operator network in four key areas,” founder Rotilu said in a conversation with TechCrunch.

She said that in the early stages, expertise in software engineering is crucial. These startup founders will need someone who’s recruited technical talent, built teams and understands infrastructure design, offering invaluable firsthand experience.

“If that’s the common thread, I would say firsthand experience is what we optimize for across software engineering, product, go-to-market and people and talent,” she said.

She also noted that most of the individuals in OpenseedVC’s operator network are people she has either worked with or received referrals for. Some are also limited partners in the fund, though they don’t earn carry now. Rotilu also mentioned that other LPs include founders and professionals from traditional and tech businesses and high-net-worth individuals across Africa, Europe, and the US.

The VC said it is looking to back at least 60 startups at the earliest stage of their existence over the next five years. It also said it will provide up to $150,000 to these startups, with a bias toward startups focusing on the future of commerce (including B2B software, AI, and fintech), the future of work (productivity), and digital health. The early-stage fund says it operates an open application process, allowing founders to apply without needing an introduction.

“We look at the earliest stages; that’s our sweet spot. Openseed is keen on making pre-seed investments, but the early stage of pre-seed is more where you find the traditional VCs. We tend to move independently and quickly, and don’t necessarily need a founder to get a lead investor or anything like that before we invest,” the founder said.

So far, OpenseedVC has made two investments: one in a stealth U.K.-based AI-enabled supplier dispute resolution software and another in Intron, a speech-to-text transcription model for underserved accents, starting with Africa.