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Since 2016, Global Innovation Fund has backed 6 African startups across 6 disclosed funding rounds totaling $17.1M, most heavily in Kenya and Fintech.
Global Innovation Fund (GIF) is a non profit, impact first investment fund that backs evidence based social innovations designed to improve the lives of people living on low incomes in developing countries. It is headquartered in London with additional offices in Washington, D.C., Nairobi and Singapore, and operates as an independent impact investor and UK charity. GIF invests through grants, loans including convertible debt, and equity, with ticket sizes typically ranging from tens of thousands to up to 15 million US dollars. In Africa, GIF has been active across early stages including seed, convertible notes and Series B, reflecting a flexible approach that matches capital to the maturity of each innovation. According to available investment data, GIF has participated in six funding rounds between 2016 and 2026, with a total of 17.1 million US dollars deployed across companies in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Within Africa, GIF’s portfolio spans health technology, telecom and connectivity, fintech, travel and mobility, and energy and utilities. Backed companies include AI Diagnostics in South Africa, which provides offline AI lung sound screening for pulmonary TB, fibertime, which offers uncapped township fiber internet in South Africa, Paga in Nigeria, a wallet product for NGN and USD transactions, PayGo Energy in Kenya, which delivers pay as you go LPG metering and cylinder fleet visibility, and SafeBoda, which offers ride booking and insured deliveries. These investments illustrate GIF’s focus on scalable technology enabled models that can reach large numbers of low income customers across multiple African markets.
Data updated · Aug 23, 2026
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Global Innovation Fund has backed 6 African startups across 6 disclosed funding rounds tracked on Liners, totaling $17.1M since 2016.
Mostly Seed: 3 of its 6 tracked rounds are at that stage, followed by Other (1).
Companies Global Innovation Fund has backed operate in Kenya (4), South Africa (2), Uganda (2), and 2 more markets. Each figure counts the rounds behind companies serving that market, so a company operating in several markets counts in each of them.
Its tracked rounds lean toward Fintech (2), Energy & Utilities (2), Health Tech (1), and 2 more sectors.
Global Innovation Fund most often shares rounds with Novastar Ventures (2 shared deals), E3 Capital (2 shared deals), Village Capital (2 shared deals).
Global Innovation Fund is a non profit, impact first investment fund that supports evidence based innovations aimed at improving the lives of people living on low incomes in developing countries. It provides a mix of grants, loans including convertible debt, and equity to help test, grow and scale high impact solutions.
For its African portfolio, Global Innovation Fund has co invested alongside firms such as Novastar Ventures, E3 Capital, Village Capital, Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund, and others. These co investments reflect GIF’s collaborative approach with mission aligned investors to support high impact enterprises.
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