At First Circle Capital, we see local capital mobilisation, particularly from pension funds, insurers, and domestic asset managers, as critical in building durable technology ecosystems across the continent. Mobilising local capital, however, is not just about allocation targets. It requires education, appropriate risk frameworks, regulatory clarity, and institutional trust built over time.

January 8, 2026

Vesting agreements are one of the most fundamental components of a startup's legal foundation. They are crucial contracts that dictate when employees and founders truly own their equity, moving from a promise to a reality over time. They're a powerful tool for motivation, retention, and maintaining a healthy cap table.

December 4, 2025

Given the trend in smartphone adoption in Africa and the growth of Fintech challengers, mobile money operators are facing a changing market and customer behaviour. Being too slow to react and adapt may be fatal.

November 18, 2025

In the fast-paced world of startups, securing and retaining investor confidence is paramount. You might have a brilliant product, but if your communication is spotty, you risk falling off the radar. The simple, non-glamorous solution? Consistent, concise, and transparent investor updates.This post outlines the essential framework for creating investor reports that keep you top-of-mind and build lasting trust.

February 2, 2024

Establishing a Supervisory Board (often just called the Board of Directors) is a critical step for any maturing startup, especially after securing institutional investment. It provides essential governance, strategic oversight, and accountability. Here's a step-by-step guide based on best practices for early-stage companies.

April 7, 2024

In the hectic world of early-stage startups, it’s all too easy to let operational challenges and day-to-day firefighting eclipse what truly matters. We often overlook and underestimate the foundational importanceof company culture. If you are intentional about defining your culture and values early on, the impact on your organization’s performance and long-term success will be immense. In our first FCC expert series, we sat down with Roger Egan, current Co-founder & CEO of Nurture, an immersive learning platform for families.

May 6, 2024

Raising capital is universally challenging for startups. But what if there was a path to fuel significant growth and scale your business without having to give up valuable equity?In our latest expert series, First Circle Capital sat down with Azer Songnaba, CFA, Co-founder & CFO of Cauris Finance, to unpack debt financing - a powerful, yet often underutilized, tool for ambitious startups, particularly those scaling in emerging markets like Africa.

February 19, 2015

If Part 1 convinced you that venture debt is a powerful, non-dilutive tool for scaling, Part 2 is the essential guide to how to use it strategically. Raising debt is not just about securing capital; it’s about aligning the right debt structure with your company’s specific growth strategy and financial realities.In our recent Debt 201 session, First Circle Capital dove deep with Azer Songnaba, CFA and Alexander Raia from Cauris Finance to break down the mechanics of a successful debt raise.

April 25, 2025

Building a business is exciting and rewarding, but it is also incredibly hard. The hours, the stress, the constant pressure to perform - these take a toll that is often the hidden cost of entrepreneurship and, unfortunately, isn't discussed enough.Last week, as part of our First Circle Capital Expert Series, we had the privilege of hearing from Nektarios Liolios, who shared his honest and valuable reflections on the true price founders pay and, more importantly, what can be done to build resilience and stay well while building.

June 25, 2025

Following the acquisition news of Expensya, the Tunisian expense management company by Medius, announced in June 2023, we were inspired to write a short article about this space!Selma, our co-founder & Managing Partner backed this company in 2018 and this is certainly one of more prominent exits in African VC story, given that this acquisition is part of a plan to create a global CFO automation giant by two most prominent Tech PE investors in Europe, and Expensya was the African business they picked among many global competitors! If you want to know more about Expensya story, tune in to Karim Jouini’s podcast here.

June 23, 2023

As a women-founded investment fund we believe that we are well-placed to drive improvements in gender equity across the particularly male-dominated FinTech sector. Research has shown that women investors are two times as likely to invest in women founders. Today, 30% of our portfolio companieshave women founders & co-founders, a testament to our commitment to building gender equity in the African VC and Tech ecosystems. Moreover, we have made a formal commitment that 50% of our portfolio will satisfy at least one of the following criteria by Series A

May 21, 2024

As the co-founder of a VC firm actively investing in Africa, I met many global LPs and VC investors, who are not yet sure whether Africa is an opportunity they should pursue. Some of the people I spoke to overthe last three years still hold a perception of elevated risk when word “Africa” is mentioned and assume investing in Africa is a matter of pure philanthropy with zero or lower return expectations. Other investors see it as a single market or assume the same growth trajectory for African startups like they have seen in China or India.

June 24, 2024

The latest BCG and QED Fintech report paints a global fintech reality that we also observe in the African Fintech market: Fintechs’ success is very concentrated with top scaled Fintech companies with $500m+ revenue commanding 60% of all industry revenues.

August 15, 2024

In Egypt, there is a major challenge in accessing credit from formal financial institutions. Of the 68m adults in Egypt today, only 37m have access to a bank account and only 5.1m (7.5% of the total) have accessed credit through a bank. The majority of lending is in the form of borrowing from friends and family, or from other very expensive sources. Many adults are excluded from all forms of borrowing altogether. This exclusive financial model prevents individuals from growing their financial wealth.

June 15, 2024

Africa’s workforce is expanding faster than any other region globally, yet a deep-seated challenge of financial unhealthiness persists. Over 80% of Kenyans- and a similarly high proportion of workers across the continent - struggle to cover daily needs or save for emergencies. This instability is severe: nearlyhalf (49%) of the population in multiple markets cannot raise funds for unexpected life events, and only a small fraction consistently save for old age.

August 15, 2025

The African tourism and hospitality sector is a high-growth market, yet businesses are losing significant revenue - up to 12% of turnover - due to payment system inefficiencies. This leakage comes from a combination of high card processing fees, crippling FX losses, hefty Online Travel Agent (OTA)commissions, and alarmingly high rates of failed transactions.

July 15, 2025

The mobile money revolution has fundamentally reshaped financial services in Africa, spurred by rising mobile phone ownership and led by major operators like Safaricom, MTN, and Airtel. This digital access relies entirely on a vast, informal network of agents who provide essential Cash-In and Cash-Out services - the last mile of distribution.Today, a staggering 5.1 million agents enable the transaction of nearly $1.0 trillion in payments annually.

March 17, 2025

Launching a card product in Africa is notoriously challenging, often representing a massive bottleneck for innovation. Fintechs and large corporates that want to issue cards face a gauntlet of challenges that slow down their launch timelines, hinder service quality, increase risk, and delay revenue generation.

August 23, 2024

Fragmentation of data and information systems presents a fundamental challenge to the growth of financial services in Africa. Without the ability to easily access and manage financial information across institutions, critical functions like regular payments,credit underwriting, and KYC/due diligence become difficult, costly, and unreliable. This ultimately slows the digitalization of financial services and limits financial inclusion on the continent. The high cost of unreliable payment collection and lost revenue limits overall economic growth.We believe that solving this fragmentation is key to unlocking the next wave of fintech growth, which is why we are excited to announce our investment in e-Doc Online.

July 19, 2024