Kauffman Fellows Africa VC Summit

We’re bringing 300 of the world’s top venture capitalists to Nairobi, Kenya in September 2023

After a successful Latin America Summit in Mexico City earlier this year, Kauffman Fellows is thrilled to announce that we’re heading to Nairobi, Kenya, for the next Annual Summit. Taking place September 10–13, 2023, the Kauffman Fellows Africa VC Summit will bring more than 300 investors from over 35 countries to Kenya. Annual Summits are a reunion of the entire KF investor network in the most exciting innovation ecosystems across the globe. This invite-only regional tour aims to promote cross-border investments in burgeoning tech markets worldwide, with the most recent summits hosted in Mexico, Dubai, Japan, Israel, Singapore, Brazil, and China.

African Tech Opportunity

The market size of Africa’s digital economy is massive and is projected to top $712 billion by 2050. Continent-wide, the African tech scene has witnessed an explosion of growth, with impressive startups springing up across Africa’s hottest hubs. From the “big four” markets (Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya) to budding startup nations like Ghana, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco (among others), the Kauffman Fellows Africa VC Summit will spotlight the entrepreneurs blazing the trail plus the investors, financial institutions, telcos, multinationals, government, and other stakeholders who are at the helm of building community around tech in the region.

Africa Fellows Host Committee

Throughout the three-day summit, Kauffman Fellows Africa-based Fellows, representing top VC firms like Ingressive Capital, Norrsken22, GreenHouse Capital, Africa50, and CRE, among others, will join other key players, including local investors and entrepreneurs on the main stage. In addition to keynotes, roundtables, and panel discussions, we’re partnering with local organizations to shed light on Africa’s market dynamics and help investors build local market intelligence through site visits to local tech companies, startup showcases, networking dinners, and a variety of cultural experiences.

Summit Objectives

When Kauffman Fellows hosts a Summit, our focus is to provide a tangible impact on the local economy. We’ve long believed in the power of entrepreneurship as a means for creating local wealth. Bringing over 300 of the world’s top venture capitalists to Kenya, including investors from Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed, Bessemer, and more, the KF Summit aims to substantially contribute to continued growth in the region, opening new avenues for long-term investments to flow into the region.

Kauffman Fellows is thrilled to have the backing of Kenyan President William Ruto, who expressed his support of the Africa VC Summit during the US-Africa Summit. The KF team has been on-the-ground meeting with other stakeholders, including the Governor of Nairobi, Sakaja Arthur Johnson, as well as US Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, as well as other tech and innovation ecosystem players.

Get Involved & Learn More

KF Summits are a reunion of the entire KF network, and we’re often joined by like-minded partners with a vested interest in the region. Whether your organization already has a presence in Africa or is looking for new opportunities, the KF Summit is a great way to showcase and learn about the ecosystem. To get involved, check out the video highlights below from our most recent Summits and fill out a partner interest form.