Carta Expands into African Private Capital Market with Localized Products
Global equity management software company Carta is expanding its services into the African private capital market, building localized products and focusing on smaller startups following the appointment of Marvin Coleby, formerly CEO of Raise.
Coleby, now Carta’s head of product for Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, brings regional expertise gained from building and subsequently closing Raise, a Nairobi-based equity management and fundraising platform that facilitated over $1 billion in funding for African startups. Rather than simply adapting its existing U.S. model, Carta intends to prioritize localization and regional insights. “We know how much goes into building software for an underserved market,” said Bhavik Vashi, Carta’s managing director for Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. “What Marvin brings to the team from a product and an engineering perspective is hugely valuable when we think about how we want to localise our product to be fit for purpose.”
This expansion comes as funding for African startups has seen a recent dip, with $3.5 billion raised in 2023 and $3.2 billion projected for 2024, following a record $6.5 billion in 2022. However, local fund managers are increasingly active, with funding from local sources reaching 30% in 2024 and expected to surpass foreign investment in early 2025 – a trend Carta initially observed through an investment in Raise. The availability of robust equity management tools is often cited as a key factor in attracting further investment. Carta currently offers cap table software, fund accounting tools, and reporting features.
Carta will offer free software to African founders who have raised less than $1 million and have 25 or fewer shareholders, and plans to publish Africa-focused reports to provide data-driven insights into the market, similar to its reports in other regions. As Taiwo Obasan, an African venture capitalist, noted, “Better data will help limited partners gain confidence investing in Africa-focused funds, more capital will flow into startups, and VCs can finally benchmark performance with metrics that fit the realities of the market.” This move aims to address a long-standing challenge in the African venture capital ecosystem: a lack of reliable data. You can learn more about venture capital trends here.
Carta officials stated they will continue to monitor market adoption and expand product offerings based on the needs of the African private capital ecosystem.
