Al Mada Holding

The Group is one of Africa’s largest private investment funds. The privately held company, headquartered in Casablanca, operates in a variety of sectors, including banking, telecommunications, renewable energy, and the food industry. For many years, Al Mada’s approach has focused on acquiring majority stakes in Morocco’s largest private companies, with its portfolio spread across 27 markets, 25 of which are in Africa.

As part of its strategy and to remain relevant, the company is expanding its influence in these businesses, driving innovation within its portfolio, and increasing market share across the various sectors in which it operates while staying at the forefront of disruptive technologies that may emerge in the near future.

Last March, Al Mada launched a venture capital firm, aligning these observations with its objectives. Al Mada Ventures (AMV) was spun out. With a capital pool of $110 million (approximately AED 1.1 billion), Al Mada’s overarching plan was to create an Africa-focused company to address the gap in growth-stage investments. However, rather than relying on capital from DFIs or foreign institutional investors, the company uses capital raised exclusively from Africa. Apart from the anchor, Evergreen Fund’s limited partners include top-tier corporates and institutional investors based on the continent.

Mr. Laaresi co-founded the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF) before being selected to lead the Moroccan venture. The fund is a $100 million pan-African VC fund created through a partnership between private equity firm AfricInvest Group and Europe-based venture capital firm Cathay Innovation.

Source: techcrunch.com