Venture capital firm 54 Collective will shut down its Africa operations, including in Kenya, beginning April 30, as its funding from Mastercard Foundation ends.
54 Collective’s start-up portfolio in Kenya includes Wingi, which specialises in custom brand packaging solutions, SME-focused buy-now-pay-later platform, Zanifu, digital healthcare platform Zuri Health, digital mental health platform, Wazi, and invoicing platform, Wareflow.
The firm’s portfolio in Kenya also includes agricultural finances support firm Vuna Pay, agricultural e-commerce platform Shamba Pride, smart farming solutions firm, Synnefa, business-to-business ethical sourcing marketplace and financier, Powered By People, and digital finance-link service firm Quikk Dev.
The venture firm previously known as Founders Factory Africa helped early-stage tech startups grow in Africa and beyond. It invests in ventures from idea to Pre-Series A stage by offering catalytic capital, and value-add support through its Venture Success Platform.
On February 25, 54 Collective announced that its funding had been cut, affecting operations.
“The Mastercard Foundation—which has funded the Entrepreneur Academy—has played a vital role in the development of our Entrepreneur Academy in Africa., which, over the last few years, has provided more than 600 grants to SMEs, and trained over 2,000 aspiring entrepreneurs,” the 54 Collective emails read in part.
“While the programme has achieved encouraging milestones to date, the Mastercard Foundation and AFV will be pursuing different strategies moving forward, and the partnership will end on April 30, 2025.
Likewise, beginning Friday last week, the venture firm told its employees it was going through a restructuring which meant redundancies were nigh.
“Due to the transition of the partnership, we have had to make the difficult decision to wind down our AFV operations, which includes the 54 Collective Venture Studio, Entrepreneur Academy, and debt and grant facility,” its communication to startups read.
However, 54 Collective insisted the closure does not affect its $40 million (Sh 5.17billion) venture capital fund, UAF1, which will continue investing in startups across Africa.
Since the partnership began, over 40 startups have been supported, with more than 17,500 direct and indirect jobs created. 54 Collective has also awarded 600 grants to SMEs through the Entrepreneur Academy.
African startup ecosystems often rely on venture studios to de-risk young businesses before they attract institutional capital.
The loss of one of the continent’s largest startup-building platforms could widen the funding and support gap for emerging founders. The move also highlights broader challenges in African startup funding.
