Lateral Frontiers Fund | Investment Thesis & Preferences

01Investment Thesis

Building efficient frontiers where scalable businesses thrive in complex markets. We invest in resourceful founders creating globally applicable solutions to serve the next 3 billion customers in Africa and the Global South.

Exclusion Criteria

Avoid non-founder-led teams, businesses dependent on subsidies, and teams without proven execution track records

02Investment Team

RE

Rob Eloff

Co-founder, Partner

SG

Steven Grin

Co-founder, Partner

SH

Samakab Hashi

Partner

AD

Abdigani Diriye

Venture Partner

LM

Lorraine Maina

Venture Partner

03F4 Research Brief

Lateral Frontiers Fund Research

Investment Thesis

Lateral Frontiers is a frontier market-focused venture capital fund investing in founders building transformative technology solutions to serve the next 3 billion customers in Africa and the Global South. The firm's investment philosophy centers on building "efficient frontiers" where scalable businesses can thrive even in complex, underserved markets. They specifically focus on two primary sectors: fintech and cleantech, with emerging interest in blockchain, healthtech, and digital infrastructure.

The fund believes that the most impactful and valuable technology companies will be created by resourceful founders in frontier markets who deeply understand local challenges and can create globally applicable solutions. Lateral partners with visionary entrepreneurs who combine local insight with global ambition to create both financial returns and lasting impact.

Investment Focus & Sectors

Primary Sectors:

Fintech & Payments: Open banking platforms, payments infrastructure, embedded finance, DeFi, blockchain-based financial services, crypto exchanges, lending platforms, and financial infrastructure for emerging markets
Cleantech & Energy: Direct air capture, renewable energy solutions, energy access, climate finance, carbon markets, and sustainable mobility

Secondary Sectors:

Healthtech (pharmaceutical supply chain, diagnostic centers)
Ecommerce & Marketplaces (used goods, social commerce)
HR Tech (payroll, workforce management for developing markets)
Data Infrastructure & Analytics
Cloud Computing & Infrastructure

Subsector Specialization: Lateral explicitly invests in technologies that address frontier market pain points including payment friction, energy access gaps, pharmaceutical supply chain inefficiencies, skilled labor matching, and financial inclusion. They have particular expertise in building businesses around mobile-first financial services, carbon offset mechanisms, and cost-effective hardware solutions.

Stage Focus & Check Size

Primary Stages:

Seed: $1M-$5M+ for teams with early product and initial market traction
Series A: Selective follow-ons for portfolio companies demonstrating strong product-market fit
Pre-seed: Selective investments in exceptional technical founders with proven execution

Check Size Range: $1M-$5M typically, with flexibility for strong founders and team compositions.

Investment Approach: Lateral leads or co-leads early-stage rounds and maintains reserves for pro-rata follow-on investments through subsequent rounds.

Fund Structure & Size

Lateral has deployed two funds:

Fund I: Focused on establishing presence and portfolio in fintech/cleantech across Africa
Fund II: Currently actively deploying (as of early 2025)

Fund Status: Actively deploying capital as of February 2025. Recent activity includes investments in Wattnow (Tunisia, Cleantech, September 2024) and Octavia Carbon (Kenya, Cleantech/Direct Air Capture, October 2024).

Geographic Focus

Primary Regions:

Sub-Saharan Africa (particular strength in: Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa)
Emerging markets and Global South

Office Locations:

Nairobi, Kenya (primary operational hub)
Lagos, Nigeria
New York, USA
California, USA

Investment Pattern: Primarily Africa-focused with selective investments in adjacent emerging markets. Portfolio includes companies based in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Colombia, China, and USA.

Team & Leadership

Co-Founders & Partners:

Rob Eloff - Co-founder, Partner

10+ years investing in developing markets
Former VP at Conversion Capital; established Frontier Dawn Partners
10 years based in Johannesburg, Moscow, London
Former Executive Director at Goldman Sachs and Investment Director at ACI
Master's in Finance from Cambridge University
BA in Philosophy & Economics from University of Cape Town

Steven Grin - Co-founder, Partner

20+ years experience as investor and principal across real estate, energy, venture
Former Director in Office of President of Guyana (low-carbon development strategy)
Founded Capstone Equities
Bachelor's in Finance & Philosophy from NYU
Master's from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

Samakab Hashi - Partner

~2 decades investing in early-stage and growth companies
Established Middle Eastern presence at Avanz Capital (Africa, Asia, Middle East focus)
Former investment banker at Lloyds Banking Group and Allstate Investments
Deployed ~$1B in PE deals across Africa, Asia, Europe
BA in Law with Business; MSc in International Business from University of Nottingham

Venture Partners:

Abdigani Diriye - Venture Partner (AI/Fintech expertise, former YC founder Elevate/Bloom, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader)
Lorraine Maina - Venture Partner (15+ years in tech: Microsoft, ABSA, Unilever; Head of Enterprise Sales and Retail Products)

Portfolio Overview

Portfolio Size: 25+ active portfolio companies with $89B+ aggregate valuation

Portfolio Composition: Strong representation across fintech (15+ companies), cleantech (5+ companies), healthtech, ecommerce, HR tech, and data infrastructure.

Notable Recent Investments:

Octavia Carbon (Kenya, 2024) - Direct Air Capture company
Wattnow (Tunisia, 2024) - Cleantech
Odola (Nigeria, 2025) - Commercial banking

Recent Activity & Fund Status

Recent Investments (2024-2025):

February 2025: Odola (Commercial Banking)
October 2024: Octavia Carbon (Direct Air Capture, Kenya)
September 2024: Wattnow (Cleantech, Tunisia)

Activity Pattern: Fund II is in active deployment phase with consistent investment activity focusing on core sectors while expanding into adjacent verticals.

Investment Process & Value Addition

Decision Structure: Partnership model with co-founder and partner involvement

Value Addition Beyond Capital:

Local market expertise and connections across Nairobi, Lagos, California, New York
Team building and talent sourcing support
Customer acquisition and sales enablement
Regulatory navigation and compliance support
Capital raising support and investor introductions
Operational guidance and strategic partnerships

Founder testimonials consistently highlight Lateral's value in thorough financial diligence, business fundamentals strengthening, and active post-investment partnership.

Founder Preferences & Philosophy

Lateral actively seeks:

Resourceful founders who can build scalable solutions in complex markets
Local experts with global vision - deep understanding of frontier market pain points combined with globally applicable thinking
Technical founders with shipping experience and proven execution
Integrity-focused teams committed to sustainable, long-term value creation

Core operating principles:

Relentless Curiosity - Embracing ambiguity, questioning status quo, testing assumptions
Resourcefulness - Focusing on founder resourcefulness over available resources
Founder First - Investing in exceptional people committed to integrity and mutual respect
Long Term - Building lasting businesses and relationships