TAPSI: Fueling Africa’s Pre-Seed Venture Capital Landscape
TLcom Capital, a prominent Africa-focused venture capital firm, has expanded its early-stage investment portfolio with the launch of TAPSI [TIDE Africa Pre Seed Investments], a dedicated $5M pre-seed fund. Through its recent investment in TurnStay, a South African travel payment platform that secured a $2M seed round, TAPSI has now deployed half of its total capital.
Empowering African Startups at the Pre-Seed Stage
Established in 2022, TAPSI was designed to broaden TLcom’s footprint in pre-seed investments across Africa. The fund offers funding of up to $200,000 per startup, along with access to TLcom’s global network, operational expertise, and over two decades of experience in African venture investing.
TAPSI also serves as a feeder fund for TLcom’s core $154M TIDE Africa Fund II, enabling high-performing startups to secure larger funding rounds and continue their growth trajectory.
Creating a Diverse Early-Stage Investment Portfolio
Aside from TurnStay, the TAPSI portfolio includes:
- Talstack (Nigeria)
- Bright Financial (Sudan and Ethiopia)
- Tradehub (Egypt)
- Agrails (Kenya)
Additionally, TAPSI has invested in three more startups through its collaboration with First Check Africa, which focuses on supporting female founders at the pre-seed stage.
By 2026, TAPSI aims to finalize up to ten additional pre-seed investments, reinforcing its commitment to backing diverse founding teams across Africa’s key innovation hubs.
Adopting a Sector-Agnostic Investment Approach
TAPSI follows a sector-agnostic strategy, concentrating on high-potential industries where early-stage investments can have a significant impact. An excellent example is Talstack, which utilized TAPSI’s pre-seed funding to validate its business model, gain traction, and subsequently secure a seed round from TIDE Fund II in 2024.
This approach highlights TLcom’s role as a multi-stage investor with a profound understanding of Africa’s startup funding landscape and the pivotal role of early-stage capital in scaling innovative ventures.
Supporting Founders Every Step of the Way
Eloho Omame, Partner at TLcom Capital, emphasizes:
“Pre-seed investments enable us to diversify our portfolio and allocate capital across various stages of a company’s lifecycle. Our objective is to generate substantial value in underserved markets and collaborate with African founders to nurture their ventures from inception to exit, whether through acquisition or IPO. Building in Africa poses its challenges; however, the odds of success significantly improve when we support and engage with founders early on in their journeys, evolving alongside them.”
TLcom’s Increasing Influence in African Tech
Managing around $250 million, TLcom Capital has curated one of Africa’s most prominent early-stage venture portfolios. Its investments encompass Pula, uLesson, Autochek, FairMoney, Educatly, HUB2, ILLA, Littlefish, SeamlessHR, and unicorn Andela.
Through TAPSI and TIDE Fund II, TLcom remains committed to empowering visionary entrepreneurs who are addressing Africa’s most pressing challenges in underserved markets.
In conclusion, Eloho Omame remarks:
“With TAPSI serving as a dedicated pre-seed arm of our investment platform, TLcom is uniquely positioned to support companies throughout their growth trajectory, from ideation and achieving product-market fit to scaling and maturity. This solidifies our role as a long-term partner to Africa’s most ambitious founders. As we advance with this fund, we eagerly anticipate engaging with and supporting more early-stage startups across the continent.”
