FATE Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with Village Capital through the Africa Ecosystem Catalysts Facility (AECF) to accelerate the growth of early-stage startups in Nigeria.
The AECF, managed by Village Capital with support from the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), is a $4 million initiative focused on investing in startups that develop context-specific solutions to enhance economic mobility and climate resilience across Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania.
Under this partnership, FATE Foundation will act as a venture partner, leveraging its deep local expertise to identify, evaluate, and support high-impact startups.
“This partnership reflects a shared mission to drive inclusive, sustainable economic growth by closing the capital access gap for early-stage businesses,” said Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
Adeyemi emphasized that local Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs) play a critical role in ecosystem strengthening, ensuring that capital flows to locally relevant and high-potential businesses.
Echoing this, Susan Nakami, Africa Region Lead at Village Capital, praised FATE Foundation’s role in advancing entrepreneurship:
“FATE has played a pivotal role in advancing entrepreneurship in Nigeria. We’re excited to collaborate with an organization that brings deep local context and a strong commitment to founder support.”
The AECF partnership is expected to channel catalytic capital into startups, fostering innovation, climate resilience, and inclusive economic mobility in Nigeria and across Africa.
