Key Takeaways
- • DPI Venture Capital, the early-stage arm of Development Partners International, reached a final close of over $112 million for its Nclude Fund, with 93% of capital originating from within Africa, according to TechCabal.
- • Virtually all commitments came from financial services institutions, per managing partner and head of DPI Venture Capital Ashley Lewis, and the raise exceeds the $107 million total AVCA recorded across all six Africa-focused venture final closes in 2025.
- • The close settles below the original $150 million target that Banque Misr cited when DPI assumed control, when the fund held $105 million in AUM; Lewis said DPI never set a rigid cap.
- • Nclude has backed 15 companies over 18 months with equity cheques of $500,000 to $10 million, and expects its portfolio to mature at 22 to 24 investments.
- • DPI points to a mandate expansion from seed through Series C, a minimum 10% seed allocation, and up to 30% of capital deployable across broader African and Middle East markets as key changes under its stewardship.
Summary
DPI Venture Capital, the early-stage arm of Development Partners International, a private equity firm managing more than $3 billion in assets across Africa, has reached a final close of over $112 million for its Nclude Fund, according to TechCabal. Managing partner and head of DPI Venture Capital Ashley Lewis told TechCabal that virtually all capital was committed by financial services institutions, with 93% originating in Africa. By comparison, African investors supplied just 37% of funding raised by the continent's startups in the first half of 2026, according to TechCabal Insights.
The close is significant in a constrained market. The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) recorded just six Africa-focused venture final closes totalling $107 million in 2025, an 87% decline from 2024. The fund also reverses the conventional architecture of African venture capital, in which development finance institutions and Western limited partners typically anchor funds. Lewis said DPI deliberately pursued aligned, regional financial services LPs and did not set an explicit fund-size target, in contrast to most GPs who set a target and maximise it.
Nclude launched in March 2022 as a fintech fund in Egypt after the Central Bank of Egypt approved it. Banque Misr was the anchor investor, with National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire as strategic investors; the Egyptian Banks Company, e-Finance and Mastercard joined later. Global Ventures initially managed the fund, but after a 2025 restructuring DPI became its adviser and launched DPI Venture Capital to run it. When DPI took over, Banque Misr stated the fund held $105 million in AUM against an initial $150 million target. Lewis said roughly 12 months were spent curating commercial institutional investors whose footprints aligned with the fund's financial services mandate.
Under DPI, the mandate expanded from seed through Series C, with at least 10% now allocated to seed-stage bets and up to 30% of capital permitted outside Egypt across broader regional markets. Cheques range from $500,000 to $10 million. The fund has backed 15 companies over 18 months and Lewis expects 22 to 24 investments by fund end. Portfolio companies include Nawy, the Egyptian proptech platform that secured a $52 million Series A; Paymob, which closed a $35 million pre-Series C round led by Mubadala and the EBRD; FlapKap, a UAE-based revenue-based financing platform for SMEs that raised $34 million; Money Fellows, a digitised ROSCA platform that raised $13 million; Kera, a healthcare AI company operating in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire; and Accord Partners, an accounting and audit AI aggregator focused on Saudi Arabia.
Lewis said the fund's mandate remains tech, embedded finance and financial inclusion, with no AI-specific mandate, and that the team is prioritising follow-on and secondary and trade exit routes, citing DPI exits including Optasia's listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2025 and MNT-Halan's listing on the Egyptian Exchange. The article notes DPI's view that fund-raising through regional financial services LPs offers a model for moving beyond DFI-backed funding.
The close is significant in a constrained market. The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) recorded just six Africa-focused venture final closes totalling $107 million in 2025, an 87% decline from 2024. The fund also reverses the conventional architecture of African venture capital, in which development finance institutions and Western limited partners typically anchor funds. Lewis said DPI deliberately pursued aligned, regional financial services LPs and did not set an explicit fund-size target, in contrast to most GPs who set a target and maximise it.
Nclude launched in March 2022 as a fintech fund in Egypt after the Central Bank of Egypt approved it. Banque Misr was the anchor investor, with National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire as strategic investors; the Egyptian Banks Company, e-Finance and Mastercard joined later. Global Ventures initially managed the fund, but after a 2025 restructuring DPI became its adviser and launched DPI Venture Capital to run it. When DPI took over, Banque Misr stated the fund held $105 million in AUM against an initial $150 million target. Lewis said roughly 12 months were spent curating commercial institutional investors whose footprints aligned with the fund's financial services mandate.
Under DPI, the mandate expanded from seed through Series C, with at least 10% now allocated to seed-stage bets and up to 30% of capital permitted outside Egypt across broader regional markets. Cheques range from $500,000 to $10 million. The fund has backed 15 companies over 18 months and Lewis expects 22 to 24 investments by fund end. Portfolio companies include Nawy, the Egyptian proptech platform that secured a $52 million Series A; Paymob, which closed a $35 million pre-Series C round led by Mubadala and the EBRD; FlapKap, a UAE-based revenue-based financing platform for SMEs that raised $34 million; Money Fellows, a digitised ROSCA platform that raised $13 million; Kera, a healthcare AI company operating in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire; and Accord Partners, an accounting and audit AI aggregator focused on Saudi Arabia.
Lewis said the fund's mandate remains tech, embedded finance and financial inclusion, with no AI-specific mandate, and that the team is prioritising follow-on and secondary and trade exit routes, citing DPI exits including Optasia's listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2025 and MNT-Halan's listing on the Egyptian Exchange. The article notes DPI's view that fund-raising through regional financial services LPs offers a model for moving beyond DFI-backed funding.
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