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TLcom reaches midpoint deployment in $5M TAPSI fund with key bet on TurnStay

TLcom's captive pipeline mirrors Sequoia's early-stage playbook, except African founders face operational chaos, making each $200K bet a bigger leap of faith.
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TLcom reaches midpoint deployment in $5M TAPSI fund with key bet on TurnStay
Quest Podcast Interview with Adia Sowho Click to watch

TLcom Capital is doubling down on early bets. The Africa-focused VC firm has now deployed 50% of its $5M pre-seed fund, TAPSI, after backing South African travel payment platform TurnStay’s $2M seed round. The fund, launched in 2022, offers up to $200K in early capital, along with TLcom’s network and two decades of venture experience.

The move comes in a brutal year for African startups. Several high-profile names have collapsed in 2025—Edukoya and Bento Africa shut down in Q1, Kenyan BNPL player Lipa Later went into administration in March despite raising $15M, and TLcom itself exited logistics hopeful Kobo360. Food-procurement platform Vendease also shrank operations after internal disputes. Funding has slowed, survival rates are down, and analysts warn more closures are likely before year-end.

TLcom says this only reinforces its approach. “Building in Africa is not for the faint-hearted,” says partner Eloho Omame. “The likelihood of success significantly increases if we support founders earlier and grow alongside them.”

TAPSI works as a feeder for TLcom’s $154M TIDE Africa Fund II, letting strong performers graduate from pre-seed to million-dollar raises without giving up equity to outside investors. Nigerian edtech Talstack followed that path—starting with TAPSI funding, validating its model, then landing follow-on capital from TIDE II in 2024.

The current portfolio spans Nigeria’s Talstack, Egypt’s B2B marketplace Tradehub, Sudan/Ethiopia’s Bright Financial, Kenya’s agtech Agrails, and three female-founded startups via First Check Africa. That gender-focused pipeline addresses a stark statistic: women founders receive less than 2% of African venture capital.

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By managing the entire funding chain from pre-seed to Series B, TLcom aims to fix Africa’s so-called “Series B gap,” where promising startups often stall after seed rounds due to scarce growth capital. With $2.5M still to deploy, the firm plans up to 10 more pre-seed deals by the end of 2026.

Africa’s venture market is still in recovery mode after 2024’s downturn. Fintech dominates, climate-tech is rising, and AI is attracting more attention—but the failures of 2025 underline a harsh truth: market fit and strong unit economics are essential, even with blue-chip VC support.

TLcom’s portfolio history is a mix of breakout successes—like unicorn Andela—and painful flameouts. With TAPSI, the bet is clear: plant many seeds, nurture the strongest, and accept the losses. The next 18 months will test whether betting earlier means building better—or simply losing faster.

Quest Podcast Interview with Adia Sowho Click to watch