Supporting impact investment in East Africa to facilitate access to basic goods and services

Novastar East Africa Fund is a pioneering impact investor in Africa and is based in Kenya. This initiative came about through the meeting between three partners, Steve Beck, Andrew Carruthers and Kim Tan, who decided to combine their skills to support social entrepreneurship in East Africa.

Novastar East Africa Fund aims to identify and support a new generation of innovative entrepreneurs who have the objective of making essential goods and services accessible in East Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda). It meets the needs of young start-ups by offering minority equity investments right from the initial development phases. The investment is implemented in several phases, which allows gradual support for the development of companies. In addition, the Novastar team advises companies during the various stages of their development as members of their governance decision-making bodies and by taking part in their main strategic choices.

This project will improve access to essential goods and services for two million people living on less than USD 2 a day by financing twenty companies. The priority targets for goods and services will be education, healthcare, energy, food security, water and sanitation. More generally, it will contribute to the development of innovative social entrepreneurship in East Africa.