Al Mada Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Al Mada Ventures (AMV) is a $110M venture capital fund that invests in scalable, sustainable and innovative companies that can reshape industries across the African continent. It is the venture arm of Al Mada, one of the largest private investment groups in Africa, controlled by the Moroccan royal family, and it describes itself as backed by 100% African capital and a century-old African heritage. The firm positions itself as a partner rather than only an investor, and says it wants to help founders build companies that scale both on the continent and globally.
The fund was announced as a pan-African vehicle of roughly MAD 1.1 billion (US$110M, reported by some outlets as $109.5M). Press at launch described it as backing tech or tech-enabled startups in financial services, health, logistics, education and renewable energy, operating as a vertical accelerator for startups that have reached a certain level of maturity.
Stage Focus
The firm's own materials state it invests in Seed to Series B opportunities, and its boilerplate says Seed to Series B and beyond. Observed rounds sit mostly at Seed through pre-Series C: a EUR 4.5M round in Susu, a EUR 2.15M round in Userguest, a $7M round in Yola Fresh, a $30M Series B (equity plus debt) in Gozem, a $13M pre-Series C in MoneyFellows, and a $12M Series A in Journify.
Check Size
The firm does not publish a check size. Rounds it has led range from roughly $2M to $30M in total round size, so its own cheques are likely low single-digit to low double-digit millions of dollars. This is an inference and carries low confidence.
Lead Tendency
AMV leads or co-leads many of its rounds. Reported leads include Yola Fresh (May 2024), the Gozem Series B (co-led with SAS Shipping Agencies Services), the MoneyFellows pre-Series C (co-led with DPI's Nclude Fund), and the Journify Series A (November 2026, co-led with Silicon Badia). It joined Susu's round alongside Janngo Capital, INCO Ventures and Open CNP.
Recent Activity
The most recent public activity is the Journify $12M Series A, announced in early November 2026, and a rebranded investment in WafR, a Moroccan mobile wallet platform for small grocers. Other recent portfolio additions on the site include Supercritical (green hydrogen, UK), Checker (API infrastructure for digital assets) and Odyssey (clean energy in growth markets). The fund is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The site lists 15 companies:
- Deepecho: tech-enabled prenatal care
- Susu: health and insurance solutions for Francophone Africa
- Userguest: hotel guest-experience technology
- Inyad: digital tools for small businesses in emerging markets
- Axis: payments and financial tools for small businesses
- Supercritical: green hydrogen technology
- Iosentech: recycling combined with digital advertising
- Gozem: super app for ride-hailing, delivery and payments in Francophone Africa
- Yola Fresh: fresh produce supply chain in Morocco
- MoneyFellows: digitized group savings (ROSCA) in Egypt
- WafR: merchant wallet and top-up platform in Morocco
- Sowit: data-driven farm management
- Checker: API infrastructure for digital assets
- Odyssey: clean energy transition in growth markets
- Journify: AI-powered first-party data activation for advertising
No exits are listed on the site.
Team
- Omar Laalej, Managing Director: co-founded and co-led the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (EUR 110M) before AMV; background in corporate finance, strategy and operations; born and raised in Morocco.
Third-party directories list additional staff, but only Omar Laalej is named on the firm's own site.
Decision Process
Not published. The firm is a team within a large holding group, with Omar Laalej fronting most deals and announcements, so decisions likely run through a small partnership plus group-level approval. Confidence is low.
Value Creation and Founder Preferences
AMV pitches a multi-tool partnership: access to expertise through operating partners, access to distribution across the Al Mada ecosystem (banking, telecoms, mining, FMCG, energy, real estate), access to infrastructure, and access to expansion into more than 27 African countries. In 2026 it renamed this programme Commercial Access. It favours passionate entrepreneurs with ambition to scale on the continent and globally, and it has repeatedly backed founders building in informal or underserved segments (small merchants, savings circles, health access).
Geographic Focus
Pan-African, with a strong tilt to Morocco and Francophone Africa (Morocco, Togo, Benin, Gabon, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal) and Egypt. It has also backed companies with European roots or operations (Supercritical in the UK, Susu in France).