Click to watchTLcom 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.
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.
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