First Check Africa

First Check Africa Research Document

Investment Thesis

First Check Africa is a mission-driven, female-focused early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2021 by Eloho Omame and Odunayo Eweniyi. The firm's core thesis centers on addressing the critical gender funding gap in African technology entrepreneurship. Rather than viewing female founders as a diversity initiative, First Check Africa explicitly frames women-led ventures as superior financial investments, backed by research showing that female-founded companies deliver twice as much revenue per dollar invested compared to their male-founded peers.

The firm invests with deep conviction in exceptionally talented female founders and diverse founding teams who are building technology-enabled solutions to solve complex problems in underserved African markets. Their mission statement explicitly articulates their purpose: "to advance equity, capital and leadership for a generation of women in Africa through technology and entrepreneurship."

Investment Stage and Check Size

First Check Africa specializes in the pre-seed and seed stages of company development. The fund is intentional about writing meaningful first institutional checks to founders:

• Pre-seed (Launch) Checks: $50,000 to $250,000

  • Pre-seed is defined as capital that takes a startup from a robust idea to a launched product, or from a recently-launched product to a validated one
  • The firm aspires to write checks large enough to serve as a founder's primary launch capital, reducing the need for friends and family funding

• Seed Checks: Typically larger, for companies with 12-18 months of market presence and demonstrated traction

  • Expect $10,000+ in monthly revenues
  • Looking for signs of product-market fit and attractive unit economics

First Check Africa made an initial $10M fund commitment with a $2M additional commitment from TLcom Capital, giving them capacity to deploy substantial capital at these early stages.

Geographic Focus

The fund has a pronounced Africa-wide focus with concentration in five key markets:

1. Nigeria - Deepest market presence and network
2. Kenya - Strategic East African hub
3. South Africa - Major Southern African market
4. Egypt - North African presence
5. Ghana - West African presence

The team is geographically distributed across these markets, with offices/presence in Lagos, London, Abuja, and Palo Alto (for US relations). While they have the capacity to consider opportunities across the African continent, they focus on markets where they have deep networks and can add meaningful value.

Sector Focus and Portfolio Composition

The fund is sector-agnostic in philosophy but their portfolio reveals clustering around five primary sectors:

1. Financial Services (40% of portfolio)

   • Digital banking and payments infrastructure
   • Credit solutions and lending platforms
   • Settlement infrastructure for fintechs and traditional banks
   • Examples: Cleva (USD banking for remote workers), Knabu (settlement infrastructure), Akiba Digital (alternative credit scoring), MoneyHash (unified payment checkout), Pivo (supply chain banking)

2. Commerce & Retail (25% of portfolio)

   • B2B e-commerce and supply chain platforms
   • Social commerce and consumer goods distribution
   • Examples: Kola Market (B2B SME e-commerce), Jumba (construction B2B), Tushop (social commerce groceries)

3. Healthcare (20% of portfolio)

   • Digital health clinics and telemedicine
   • Diagnostic testing and health infrastructure
   • Women-focused health and wellness platforms
   • Examples: Zoie Health (women's digital clinic), Healthtracka (at-home diagnostic testing)

4. Education (10% of portfolio)

   • EdTech for underserved markets
   • Examples: Foondamate (WhatsApp-based learning for data-poor students)

5. Personal Care & Consumer

   • Direct-to-consumer brands leveraging African ingredients
   • Examples: Uncover (African-focused skincare)

Decision Process and Timeline

The firm has a structured, founder-friendly investment process designed to move quickly:

1. First Screen - Application form review (~1 week response time)
2. First Meeting - 45-minute founder pitch and firm introduction
3. Deliberation - Team decides whether to move forward (~30% of applicants advance)
4. Follow-up Meetings - Deep dive on market, product, team, assumptions (1-2 additional meetings)
5. Indicative Offer - In-principle investment amount and terms by email
6. Due Diligence - 1-week preparation period for founder materials, then detailed diligence with reference calls
7. Final Decision - Team deliberation and confirmation
8. Close - Document signing and fund transfer

Timeline Target: 4-6 weeks from first pitch to close (though can vary)

Founder Selection Criteria

The firm is extremely selective about who they back. They emphasize that the founder or founding team is the most critical decision factor:

Strong Preference For:

• Data-driven founders with domain expertise and passion for their problem
• Tenacity and resourcefulness to execute at startup pace
• First-time or serial founders with evidence of capability
• Africa-based founders building solutions for African markets
• Large addressable markets in Africa
• Capital-efficient, scalable business models with defensible margins
• Strong growth rates and user acquisition advantages
• At least one female founder or co-founder (firm-wide requirement)
• Diverse, inclusive founding teams (not just all-female teams, but must include female leadership)

Investment Support & Value-Add

First Check Africa goes far beyond capital provision. They position themselves as active, hands-on partners committed to founder success:

1. Direct GP Involvement

• Eloho Omame and Odunayo Eweniyi are always accessible via email, phone, WhatsApp
• Monthly "office hours" (45-minute structured meetings on performance, challenges, strategy)
• "Working sessions" on specific founder challenges (user acquisition, hiring, fundraising, co-founder dynamics)

2. Capital Raising Support

• Deep experience helping founders raise capital efficiently and on good terms
• Leverage with follow-on investors in Africa and internationally
• Help with fundraising strategy, KPI setting, pitch material development
• Back-channel advocacy with later-stage VCs

3. Expert Network Access

• Custom connections to domain experts (product, technical, operational, etc.)
• Database of proven operators across Africa
• Can mobilize expert advice for specific business challenges
• Sometimes structures medium-term expert engagements for major issues

4. Peer Network & Community

• Portfolio company peer learning and roundtables
• Founder-led workshops on common challenges
• Community of female-focused and aligned investors
• Angel program building a majority-female investor community

5. Active Capital & Pro-Rata Rights

• Reserve capital for follow-on investments in outperforming portfolio companies
• Usually negotiate pro-rata rights for future rounds
• Target 5-10% ownership including follow-ons

Recent Activity & Fund Status

Based on portfolio evidence:

• Fund I (circa $10M + $2M TLcom commitment) - Closed and actively deployed (2021-2025)
• Current Status: Fund I appears to be actively deploying into seed-stage follow-ons and some Series A participation
• Portfolio Maturation: Earliest investments (2021-2022) are now reaching Series A stage, creating follow-on opportunities

Notable portfolio companies have successfully raised Series A rounds, indicating strong institutional investor confidence and market validation of First Check Africa's investment thesis.

Team & Leadership

Eloho Omame, Co-Founder & General Partner

• Background: Partner at TLcom Capital, Former Managing Director & CEO of Endeavor Nigeria, Led "Lagos Innovates" program for Lagos State, Former VP at General Atlantic, Former Corporate Development at First Bank of Nigeria
• Education: BSc Economics (LSE), MBA (London Business School)
• Network: Deep institutional relationships, government relationships, pan-African VC network
• Expertise: Venture capital, ecosystem building, institutional investing, Africa markets

Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-Founder & General Partner

• Background: Co-Founder & COO of PiggyVest, Board member of Village Capital, Advisory roles at TrainFuture and IFC/WeFi Gender Lens Initiative, Co-founder of The Feminist Coalition
• Recognition: TIME100 Next (2021), Malala Fund Social Shapers (2021), Forbes Africa 30 under 30 (2019), Bloomberg50 (2020)
• Expertise: Fintech, founder experience, women's equity, product, operations

Shared Team Attributes:

• 35+ years of collective VC experience across both partners and advisors
• $100M+ raised to support entrepreneurs across portfolio companies and prior roles
• Female-led fund - Both co-founders are women in VC, modeling inclusion
• Africa-focused - Deep roots in African markets, not parachute investors
• Operator background - Both have founded/scaled companies (PiggyVest, Endeavor)

Decision Tendency

Based on portfolio analysis, First Check Africa exhibits a "Lead and Protect" tendency:

• Prefer to lead or co-lead pre-seed and seed rounds (writing "the first check")
• Strong conviction in investments - deep due diligence and board engagement
• Pro-rata rights in follow-ons suggest they want to protect ownership
• Hands-on support structure indicates they're building long-term relationships, not passive investments
• However, explicitly note they participate in follow-ons and co-lead with other early-stage funds

Investment Philosophy & Long-Term Vision

First Check Africa is deeply mission-aligned beyond returns:

1. Evidence-based approach: Back their thesis with data on female founder performance
2. Structural problem-solving: Targeting the funding gap, not treating women as diversity checkbox
3. Africa-first mindset: Building Africa's next generation of companies, not just exporting capital
4. Community building: Developing female investor community to shift capital allocation long-term
5. Founder-centric: Philosophy of "pull not push" support - respecting founder autonomy while providing leverage

The firm's long-term vision is explicitly stated: **"Create a future where women have an equal hand in leading and shaping Africa's wealth creation through technology and entrepreneurship."

Summary

First Check Africa represents a new generation of African venture capital - mission-driven, founder-focused, and explicitly designed to correct market inefficiencies in capital allocation. With $12M+ in committed capital, 13+ portfolio companies across 5 African countries, and founders with demonstrated success in fintech, ecosystem development, and operations, the fund is well-positioned to become a category-defining investor for Africa's next generation of women entrepreneurs.

The fund's strength lies not just in capital, but in the quality of partnership - two highly credentialed operators who understand African markets deeply, maintain high engagement with every portfolio company, and are systematically building an investor community that shares their thesis on women-led innovation.