French VC Firm Partech Closes $144 Million Africa Tech Fund

French venture-capital fund Partech is closing an Africa fund of EU125M ($143.9 million) for investing in tech startups across the continent.

* Fund is backed by financial institutions and corporates, including European Investment Bank, Orange, Edenred, JCDecaux, Bertelsmann, L’Oreal;
* Hired Ceasar Nyagah as an investment officer in Nairobi, Kenya; Nyagah was previously at private-equity fund Fanisi Capital;
* NOTE: Partech’s Africa fund had launched in Jan. 2018;
* NOTE: VC Bets $122 Million That African Tech Will Go Global. Source: Bloomberg