Africa-focused venture capital firm, TLcom, has appointed Eloho Omame as a Partner, bolstering its capabilities as it ramps up deployment of TIDE Africa Fund II, its new $150 million pan-African tech fund.
As well as focusing on the firm’s traditional remit of seed to Series B investments in high-growth, tech-enabled startups, Eloho will bring more senior capacity to TLcom’s high-touch approach with entrepreneurs and support deal flow generation at the pre-seed stage, as TLcom doubles down on its commitment to Africa’s thriving tech opportunity.
There will be even greater emphasis on attracting more female-led companies into TLcom’s portfolio.
“We are especially proud to strengthen our team with a Partner of Eloho’s calibre — a seasoned investor who mirrors our founder-first ethos, and will play a critical role in enabling us to deepen our commitment to the founder journey in Africa through her early-stage experience.” Maurizio Caio, Founder and Managing Partner at TLcom Capital said.
Eloho’s expertise will be especially useful in strengthening TLcom’s existing support for female entrepreneurs.
“We look forward to working with Eloho to drive the next phase of our mission to transform Africa’s key verticals through tech-enabled solutions,” Maurizio added.
Meet Eloho Omame
Eloho is a Co-Founder & General Partner at FirstCheck Africa, a female-focused early-stage venture capital firm that has to date invested in ten high-growth tech startups with a female founder or co-founder.
Eloho will combine her new role at TLcom Capital with her existing responsibilities at FirstCheck Africa, which only launched last year to address the severe funding gap for Africa’s female tech entrepreneurs. TLcom will also support the launch of FirstCheck Africa’s $10 million debut fund with a $2 million co-investment commitment from its TIDE Africa Fund II.
With a professional career spanning more than 20 years, including time at General Atlantic, FirstBank Nigeria, and Credit Suisse, Eloho brings a wealth of expertise to the team.
An important contributor to the startup and venture capital ecosystem in Africa, she has worked with several of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs, companies, and teams, supporting their ambition to transform the continent’s heavily underserved markets and economies.
As the founding Managing Director of Endeavor Nigeria, she led the company’s mission to drive high-impact entrepreneurship, creating a leading membership community that includes tech founders from pioneering startups such as Paga, Migo, and Flutterwave.
Eloho’s track record in early-stage investing will prove vital as TLcom expands its current portfolio from 13 companies to 30.
With TLcom Capital widening the range of its core ticket sizes to $500k – $15 million, the firm will continue to primarily target seed to Series B founders that are tackling some of the continent’s most complex challenges in sectors including fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education, and e-commerce.
TLcom Capital Eyes Africa-wide Expansion
Geographically, TLcom will expand its traditional focus on East and West Africa to include North Africa, starting with Egypt.
With the launch of its new fund, TLcom is more committed than ever to Africa. “As we partner with more entrepreneurs, it is vital that we are able to maintain our existing level of high-quality, on-the-ground strategic support to unlock the full value-generation potential of these companies,” says Maurizio Caio.
Following the first close of its new $150 million TIDE Africa Fund II announced in January 2022, TLcom has gained even greater momentum, with a number of additional commitments to its fund and significant new deal flow for its growing portfolio.
The TIDE Africa Fund II is a TLcom’s flagship fund dedicated to technology and innovation for Sub-Saharan Africa at all stages of venture capital.
The firm recently led a $10 million Series A round in Seamless HR, a Nigerian platform providing payroll and HR software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to companies in Africa and a seed round in Pastel, a Nigerian fintech company.
A Major Boost for TLcom’s Team
Commenting on her appointment, Eloho Omame said “It’s an honour to join one of the most prestigious investors in African tech. TLcom has seen the benefits of an early-stage approach through the success of both new and repeat founders in TIDE Africa Fund I.
“As we deploy capital from TIDE Africa Fund II, it’s crucial that we continue to win the race to find the continent’s best entrepreneurs and support their companies to scale.”
Over the years, TLcom has been committed to developing the startup ecosystem in Africa. With Eloho now in a position push the goals of female founders on the continent, “I’m thrilled to step up the important work we’ve started at FirstCheck Africa with this incredible show of support from an established, high-calibre fund like TLcom.”
Eloho’s appointment increases TLcom’s experienced and growing team from four to five Partners, comprising Founder and Managing Partner Maurizio Caio based in Kenya, Senior Partner Omobola Johnson based in Nigeria, and Partners Andreata Muforo in Kenya, and Ido Sum in the UK. With the new addition, TLcom’s senior leadership is now 60% female.
With offices in Kenya, Nigeria, and the UK, TLcom has $350 million of VC assets under management across Africa and Europe.
The company invests across all stages of the venture capital cycle and boasts one of the leading portfolios in African tech featuring 13 startups, namely Andela, Ajua, Autochek, Ilara Health, Kobo360, Okra, Pula, Seamless HR, Pastel, Shara, Terragon Group, Twiga Foods, and uLesson.
Since its founding in 1999, the company has completed successful Africa VC exits with Upstream acquired by Actis and Movirtu acquired by BlackBerry. TLcom’s fund delivers capital as part of its wider strategic, operational, and financial support strategy to entrepreneurs.
