Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures

Managing Partner Danladi Verheijen and Partner Ryosuke Yamawaki co-lead the firm. Verheijen is the co-founder and CEO of Verod Capital Management, the Nigerian private equity firm that serves as the joint venture's anchor. Yamawaki was previously a general partner at Kepple Africa Ventures and brings direct early-stage investment experience from across the continent. Day-to-day investment committee decisions are made by this partnership, drawing on investment teams in Nairobi and Lagos.

VKAV is a joint venture between Verod Capital Management, a West Africa-focused private equity firm, and Kepple Africa Ventures, a Japanese venture capital firm with a large portfolio of African seed-stage companies. The structure allows VKAV to leverage Verod's private equity operational expertise and regional networks alongside Kepple's venture sourcing engine and Japanese limited partner relationships. The firm operates independently as a venture fund manager but benefits from the shared infrastructure of its parent entities.

The firm targets Series A and Series B rounds, with a focus on startups that have achieved product-market fit and are pursuing pan-African expansion. VKAV is stage-agnostic within growth equity, occasionally participating in late-seed rounds when the company's traction and unit economics meet its criteria. The firm typically leads or co-leads rounds and reserves capital for follow-on investments.

VKAV invests across sub-Saharan Africa with a primary focus on Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. These markets represent the firm's core thesis that pan-African technology winners will emerge from the continent's largest digital economies. The firm maintains an office in Nairobi and deploys investment professionals across Lagos and Cairo.

VKAV sources deals through the combined networks of Verod Capital Management and Kepple Africa Ventures. Kepple's seed-stage portfolio of over 100 African companies provides a proprietary pipeline of mature startups ready for Series A capital, while Verod's West African corporate relationships surface opportunities in enterprise technology and fintech. The firm also syndicates with co-investors such as Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital.

The $43 million Fund I closed in March 2024 with commitments from Japanese institutional investors including Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, and SBI Holdings. The LP base reflects the firm's structural mandate to channel Japanese corporate and financial institutional capital into African venture, a capital corridor that had been largely undeveloped before VKAV's formation.

VKAV has not publicly disclosed sector exclusions. The firm's current portfolio spans fintech, property technology, mobility, and enterprise software, suggesting a preference for asset-light, technology-enabled business models. Highly capital-intensive industries such as heavy manufacturing, extractives, and large-scale infrastructure fall outside its venture-stage mandate by design.