About This Fund
Seedstars Youth Wellbeing Ventures is an evergreen impact investment mandate focused on early-stage startups improving the wellbeing of young people across Africa. Launched in June 2023 as a joint initiative between Seedstars Capital—the alternative investment platform of the Seedstars Group—and Fondation Botnar, a Swiss philanthropic foundation holding over CHF 3.8 billion in assets and dedicated to the health and wellbeing of young people in urban areas worldwide, the fund integrates rigorous impact measurement at the core of its investment process. The mandate targets companies operating in low- and middle-income African markets where youth populations are largest and access to services most constrained, addressing a structural gap in purpose-driven capital directed toward the continent's young majority.
The fund deploys USD 20 million across pre-seed to Series A-stage companies in Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, and Egypt, with scope to expand to other African markets as opportunities arise. Investment themes include health services and digital health, environmental sustainability and clean energy access, local food security, water and sanitation, quality education, digital technologies, affordable housing, access to employment, financial services, and safe sustainable transportation. Each portfolio company receives an initial capital injection of USD 250,000, with follow-on capacity of up to USD 500,000. The fund plans four new investments and two follow-on investments annually over a five-year active investment period, targeting companies serving people below 30 years of age.
Among the fund's early investments is Chargel, a Senegal-based logistics technology company that uses technology to streamline operations in the fragmented African logistics sector and raised USD 2.5 million in seed funding. The fund's evergreen structure—uncommon for Africa-focused early-stage vehicles—allows Seedstars and Fondation Botnar to reinvest proceeds, maintaining a long-term capital commitment to African youth wellbeing that extends beyond a traditional fund lifecycle. The partnership reflects a growing trend of philanthropic capital being structured through a venture vehicle to generate both financial returns and measurable social outcomes for underserved youth populations.