Partech, the global technology investment business, has closed its second Africa fund at €280 million.

The company said that the “oversubscribed” final closing has given it the opportunity to attract new categories of global institutions, namely US and Middle East pension and sovereign funds.

Following the closing, Partech said it would "double down" on its strategy of investing across Africa, with initial tickets ranging from $1 million to $15 million on Seed to Series C rounds. It added that the move would support African companies and founders on their growth journey in both local and international markets.

The Fund already counts three investments in its portfolio with a real-estate platform in Egypt, a payment orchestration start-up in South Africa, and an e-commerce platform in Senegal.

The team expects to build a portfolio of over 20 companies across Africa.

Partech, which is also opening a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, said that the closing announcement comes in the context of a 50 per cent decrease in the number of investors active in the African tech sector.

The funding round attracted support from a number of development financial institutions, including the European Investment Bank, the UK's development finance institution British International Investment (BII), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO.

The final closing also included new strategic investors Africa Re and Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF) who joined existing early Partech Africa supporters Orange, AXIAN Investment, and the African Development Bank Group (AFDB).

“We are grateful for the support and commitment of our investors: almost all Fund I investors reinvested and some, more than doubled their commitment”, said Cyril Collon, general partner at Partech. “We are also honoured to get the support from a new set of strategic investors from the US, the Middle East and Africa, and for some of whom, this marks their first commitment in African Tech.”

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