BQ Reporter 
Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) has closed its first fund at $60 million.Key institutional investors in the fund include SBI Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank,Japan International Corporation Agency(JICA),and Japan ICT Fund.
New investors joining the final close include SCM Capital from Nigeria and a few additional institutional investors from Japan, including Taiyo Holdings and C2C Global Education Japan. VKAV is the first fund by Verod-Kepple Africa Partners, a joint venture between Verod Capital Management, a West African private equity firm investing in mid-sized enterprises across sectors, and Kepple Africa Ventures.
With a focus on growth stage companies, VKAV is tackling the growing gap of funding available, particularly from locally-based investors, for companies moving to Series A and B stages in Africa. The fund will focus on three key themes: companies building digital infrastructure across different sectors; inefficiency solvers who are solving for friction primarily between businesses or between businesses and consumers; and market creators who are creating economic opportunities for people, based on the changing dynamics of the overall African economy and demographics.
The fund has so far backed 12 companies including Moove Africa, KOKO Networks, Ceviant, Chari, Shuttlers, Nawy, Julaya, NowPay, Chefaa, Cloudline, Zone, and mTek-Services.
