Flourish adds another $6 million to Madica’s Africa strategy

By Nathan Brooks

US venture capital firm Flourish Ventures has injected another $6 million into Madica, the early-stage fund it launched four years ago to invest in and support underrepresented, underfunded founders. Madica’s Emmanuel Adegboye said the injection will let the firm back 25 to 30 companies over another three years, extending a three-year strategy that has already backed 18 startups.

Madica, short for “Made In Africa,” backs mission-driven technology startups in Africa. The fund pairs pre-seed checks of up to $200,000 with an 18-month program offering mentorship, executive coaching, peer learning and connections to other investors.

A broader search for overlooked founders

The portfolio disclosed by Madica includes both a delivery service and a solar-equipment provider. GoBEBA is a Nairobi-based on-demand shopping delivery service for essential utilities such as cooking gas and clean drinking water. Earthbond is a Nigeria-based provider of affordable solar systems and financing to small and mid-sized businesses.

GoBEBA brings gas and clean water through on-demand shopping delivery, while Earthbond pairs solar equipment with financing for small and mid-sized businesses. Both sit in African markets, and the fund says it is targeting founders overlooked and underfunded there.

Madica says every company in its portfolio is majority African-owned. More than half also have at least one female cofounder. That ownership mix fits the fund’s stated focus on underrepresented, underfunded founders.

“We’ve learned a lot and continue to do so,” Madica’s Emmanuel Adegboye said. “These investments show what a broader search can uncover. Establishing how that translates into sustained growth, follow-on funding and financial returns takes longer.”

What does the new capital change for founders?

For founders, the practical change is more investment capacity within Madica’s existing Africa focus. Adegboye’s target would move Madica from 18 backed companies to 25-30 over the next three years, adding seven to 12 companies.

On the disclosed figures, that would expand the portfolio by about 39% to 67%. It would also raise the pace from an average of six companies a year during the first three-year strategy to roughly eight to 10 a year.

Adegboye said the additional funding will also let Madica keep tracking what works, refine its model and expand its company-building support. His comments distinguish reach from returns: Madica can widen the search, but the investments still need to translate into sustained growth, follow-on funding and financial returns. Adegboye said establishing that connection takes longer.

Madica’s 18-month support period, or a year and a half, includes:

• mentorship
• executive coaching
• peer learning
• connections to other investors

For a founder, the support package sits alongside a pre-seed check of up to $200,000. It gives Madica a three-year window in which to test the model on 25 to 30 additional companies.

“Funding of pre-seed deals in Africa has declined since 2021, making funds like Madica more essential than ever,” Flourish Ventures’ Efayomi Carr said. He added: “I have a lot of conviction that supporting overlooked early-stage entrepreneurs can have an outsized impact on economic outcomes, employment, and innovation across the region and beyond.”

Carr’s view positions Madica’s expansion against a market where pre-seed funding has declined since 2021. The new capital serves two purposes stated by the fund: expand the number of companies it backs and collect more evidence about what works. That makes each new investment part of a continuing test of the model.

For investors, company count is an output, not proof of the investment case. Adegboye named the measures that matter: sustained growth, follow-on funding and financial returns. Madica’s next three years will show whether broader access to overlooked founders can produce those outcomes at the scale Flourish is funding.

For founders, the concrete opportunity is seven to 12 additional portfolio places, each paired with up to $200,000 and 18 months of support. For Flourish, the $6 million provides a larger test of the thesis rather than final proof. Adegboye said the evidence on growth, follow-on funding and returns will take longer to establish.