P1 Ventures | Investment Thesis & Preferences

01Investment Thesis

We provide capital, operational guidance, and facilitate follow-on funding and expansion.

Exclusion Criteria

No non-tech businesses, hardware-only plays, or founders without demonstrated execution capability

02Investment Team

MH

Mikael Hajjar

Managing Partner

HH

Hisham Halbouny

Managing Partner

NA

Nada Abdelnour

Venture Partner

IA

Ijeoma Arum

Venture Partner

SG

Selva Govinden

Ops Director

MA

Melody Ama

Investor

BD

Bernard Dalle

Senior Advisor

EM

Emil Michael

Senior Advisor

03F4 Research Brief

P1 Ventures Research

Investment Thesis

P1 Ventures partners with African tech founders from 0 to 1, focusing on early-stage product development and achieving product-market fit. The firm believes that African entrepreneurial talent is more widely dispersed across the continent than venture capital funding, and they aim to change this through active partnership, operational support, and follow-on capital facilitation. P1 distinguishes itself by focusing on contrarian investments across sectors often overlooked in Africa, including fintech, health tech, developer tools, and emerging AI applications.

The fund operates with a clear philosophy: partnering with visionary founders who have global ambitions but are building from Africa. Their Managing Partners bring deep operational experience and extensive networks across the continent and globally.

Stage Focus

P1 Ventures primarily invests in early-stage companies:

Pre-Seed: Emerging companies with founding teams
Seed: Companies with product-market fit or clear path to it
Series A: Participation in proven portfolio companies with significant growth

They are known for being the first institutional investor for many companies and provide significant operational support beyond capital.

Check Size

Based on portfolio analysis:

Pre-Seed: $250K-$1M range
Seed: $1M-$5M range
Series A/Follow-on: $3M-$10M+ range

Recent investments include Stakpak ($500K pre-seed), MoneyFellows ($13M pre-Series C), and various seed rounds in the $1M-$4M range.

Lead Tendency

P1 Ventures frequently leads or co-leads rounds, particularly at the pre-seed and seed stages. They serve as first institutional investors for many founders and maintain reserve capital for follow-on investments. The firm demonstrates strong conviction in portfolio companies, providing guidance on follow-on capital raises, geographic expansion, and partnership development.

Geographic Focus

P1 Ventures invests exclusively in African tech startups and African diaspora founders:

Primary focus: Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana)
Secondary focus: Francophone Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia, Senegal, DRC)
Coverage: 20+ countries across the continent
Global diaspora: African founders with global ambitions regardless of location

Headquarters: San Francisco, but deeply embedded in African startup ecosystems through team presence and relationships.

Fund Details

Fund II recently closed with $50M in institutional capital (February 2025)
Actively deploying from Fund II
Strong follow-on track record: For every $1 invested, portfolio companies raise 35x more follow-on capital on average
World Bank IFC committed $5M to fund

Recent Activity

P1 Ventures has been exceptionally active in 2025:

November 2025: Led investment in Lua AI
October 2025: Chari Series A-IV investment
May 2025: MoneyFellows raised $13M pre-Series C
May 2025: Salus closed $3.7M Series A (AI-native DevSecOps)
May 2025: Better Auth (YC company) raised $5M seed
March 2025: Stakpak announced $500K pre-seed led by P1
February 2025: Closed $50M Fund II

Portfolio companies have demonstrated exceptional outcomes: MoneyFellows, Yassir, Djamo, Chari, Reliance Health, Lami, Amenli, Kotani Pay, Yodawy, and others have raised significantly larger follow-on rounds.

Portfolio Overview

P1 Ventures has invested in 29+ portfolio companies (as of early 2026):

Fintech/Payments:

Chari (B2B ecommerce, Morocco)
Djamo (Consumer fintech, Côte d'Ivoire)
MoneyFellows (Group savings/lending, Egypt)
Kotani Pay (Blockchain payments, Kenya)
Paymee (Payment solutions, Tunisia)
Lami (Insurance API, Kenya)
Amenli (Insurance, Egypt)
Root (Insurance, South Africa)
Reliance Health (Health insurance, Nigeria)
OnePipe (Fintech infrastructure, Nigeria)
Raenest (Fintech, Nigeria)
Verto (Cross-border payments)
Mnzl (Asset-backed lending, Egypt)
SubsBase (Recurring payments SaaS, Egypt)
Yodawy (Health tech, Egypt)
Yassir (Super app, Algeria)
MoneyBadger (Crypto payments)

Developer Tools/Infrastructure:

Better Auth (Authentication, Ethiopia) - YC-backed
Salus (DevSecOps, AI-native)
Stakpak (DevOps AI co-pilot)
Lua AI (Business productivity/AI)
MinDjoy (AI application)

Consumer/Marketplace:

Nuitee (Travel tech, AI-powered)
JuicyWay (Stablecoin cross-border payments)
MarketForce (Informal trade SaaS, Kenya)
Traction (Merchant acquiring, Nigeria)
Gameball (Customer retention/loyalty SaaS, Egypt)

Other:

Baloon (Mobile-first insurance, Francophone Africa)
Eksab (Fantasy football, MENA)
WorkPay (HR/Payroll, Kenya)
Brass (Corporate card/expense management)

Team & Leadership

Mikael Hajjar (Managing Partner): Business operator turned investor. Launched products and scaled ventures at startups and Fortune 500 companies in US, South Africa, China, and France. Born in Senegal, raised in Mauritania, from entrepreneurial family. UC Berkeley engineer, Stanford MBA graduate. Provides operational guidance across the portfolio.

Hisham Halbouny (Managing Partner): Investor, venture builder, former investment banker. Led global private markets at Man Capital (including early investments in Uber, Bolt, Airbnb). Managing Director at EFG Hermes advising on $10B+ M&A/IPO transactions. Born and raised in Egypt.

Nada Abdelnour (Venture Partner): 15+ years driving go-to-market and monetization at startups. Led product marketing at Yahoo, iZettle (acquired by PayPal), and Yoco. Co-founded Axis neobank in Egypt. Georgetown BA, INSEAD MBA.

Ijeoma Arum (Venture Partner): Nigerian American from Oakland, currently in Lagos. Chief Commercial Officer at Jumia Nigeria. 14+ years commerce experience at Google, Nike, Target. UCLA BA, Columbia MBA.

Bernard Dalle (Senior Advisor): Co-founder of Index Ventures (1997), scaled to $20B+ AUM. Led 20+ investments including Mimecast (first African unicorn). Ex-McKinsey, P&G. EPFL engineer, Kellogg MBA.

Emil Michael (Senior Advisor): Egyptian. Chief Business Officer at Uber during exponential growth phase (raised $15B in 30 months, expanded to 80+ countries). Harvard College, Stanford Law School.

Additional team includes Selva Govinden (Ops Director, ex-Savannah Fund) and Melody Ama (Investor, ex-JPMorgan).

Decision Process

P1 Ventures operates as a partnership with strong founder-centric engagement. Key decision-making factors:

Founder quality: African/diaspora founders with global ambition and execution capability
Market opportunity: Solving real problems in underserved African markets
Team composition: Experienced operators valued alongside technical founders
Market tailwinds: Mobile adoption, fintech gap, digital services penetration in Africa

The firm emphasizes entrepreneurial mindset, ecosystem connectivity, investment fundamentals, and operational muscle from potential partners.

Founder Preferences

P1 Ventures backs:

African founders building from Africa with global ambition
Diaspora founders creating solutions for African markets
Repeat founders and operators with track records
Technical teams with complementary business expertise
Contrarian thinkers targeting overlooked sectors and geographies

Portfolio testimonials highlight the firm's hands-on approach: founders cite P1's guidance on follow-on capital, geographic expansion, product strategy, HR, partnerships, and YC admission facilitation.

Sector Classification

P1 Ventures invests across multiple sectors, with strong concentration in:

Fintech & Payments (40%+ of portfolio): Digital payments, lending, insurance, savings, and cross-border transfers
Healthcare Digital (15%+): Health tech, insurance, telemedicine, pharmacy, and preventive health
Enterprise Software (15%+): HR/payroll, merchant tools, SaaS for SMBs
Developer Tools & Infrastructure (10%+): DevSecOps, authentication, DevOps tooling, AI infrastructure
Consumer Apps (10%+): Travel tech, super apps, consumer finance, loyalty platforms
Other: Supply chain/logistics tools, insurance (specialized), gaming/entertainment

Notable Portfolio Outcomes

Exits:

Mimecast (Index portfolio) - Unicorn exit
Instabug - Acquired
Instadeep - Acquired
Chari acquisitions - Successfully acquired regional retailers

Mega-rounds:

Yassir: $150M Series B
MoneyFellows: $31M Series B + $13M pre-Series C
Reliance Health: $40M Series B
Nuitee: $48M Series A
Chari: Multiple rounds to $70M+ valuation
Yodawy: $16M Series B

Recently Closed Seed/Series A:

Better Auth: $5M seed (YC-backed)
Salus: $3.7M Series A
Raenest: $11M Series A
MoneyFellows: $13M pre-Series C

Impact Metrics

As of 2025:

29 portfolio companies
6,000+ direct FTE jobs created
Operations in 20+ countries
$248M in consumer loans disbursed
3.7M lives impacted
290K SMEs tooled with payment/productivity software
288K patients provided affordable healthcare
8M kg CO2 equivalent saved

Investment Philosophy

P1 Ventures operates on the principle that "African entrepreneurial talent is more widely dispersed across the continent than venture capital funding." They aim to: