Recent news featuring Tofino Capital:
"It is also a problem for the world, said Aubrey Hruby, an investor in Africa and an author of “The Next Africa.” She said, “After climate change, Africa’s jobs crisis will be a defining challenge of our era."
The World is Becoming More African, New York Times, October 2023
"We’re different in a literal sense: we are operators and we are investing in places that rarely attract venture capital. Ethiopia and Bangladesh have less than $1 venture capital per capita. Nigeria and Egypt have less than $5. China has over 40$ per capita of VC. We have to rethink the venture model in many of the countries and companies we invest.”
Frontier Markets Podcast, July 2023
“Fintech startups in Africa will probably hit pause on raising capital for about 18 months to avoid lower valuations amid rising interest rates and high inflation, said Aubrey Hruby, an investor in the continent’s startups and co-founder of Insider and Tofino Capital. A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group and QED Investors predicts Africa will be the fastest-growing market for fintech through 2030.”
Fintech Startup Caution; Pan-African Food Security: New Economy, Bloomberg, June 2023
“In March, U.S. venture capital firm, Tofino Capital, made a $100,000 seed-stage investment in Caafisom. Investing in Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia and declared its independence in 1991, was not straightforward. “We had to kind of reinvent the venture process to get this deal done,” said Eliot Pence, Tofino’s co-founder.”
Caafisom is a startup trying to revolutionize healthcare provision in Somaliland, Semafor, May 2023
“We try to come to each investment opportunity with a healthy amount of ignorance – not ignorance born of lack of knowledge, but ignorance born of self-awareness. We’re very much believers in the “map is not the terrain” analysis of foreign markets.”
From Nigeria to Egypt: Investor Eliot Pence on backing frontier market startups, How We Made it in Africa, April 2023
““The main thesis of the fund is to target large markets with hundreds of millions of people that have minimal access to venture capital. So that does not include China, India, Brazil, those kinds of big markets with a lot of venture capital,” general partner Pence said to TechCrunch in an interview.”
Tofino Capital reaches first close of $10M fund to back startups in frontier markets, TechCrunch, May 2022
“I don’t think the solution in Latin American venture is to adopt US or European venture models, Tofino co-founder, Eliot Pence, told Bloomberg.”
LatAm Early-Stage Startups Are the New Focus of VCs as Valuations Adjust, Bloomberg Linea, May 2022
“Pakistan is the fifth largest market in the world and the compound annual growth rate for people coming online exceeds any country in Asia including some of the fastest-growing ones in the region like Vietnam and Indonesia.”
US-based Tofino Capital to invest in Pakistan’s startups from $10mn fund, Pakistan Today, April 2022
“We were prompted by a question that we didn't think the risk community had answered,” Pence said. "Why do some of the fastest growing markets have the lowest per capita availability of risk finance?" Egypt, Nigeria and Bangladesh, for example, have an average of 3 dollars per capita of risk investment, while China exceeds 40 dollars.”
Tofino Capital launches a US$10 million fund that will invest in Latin America, Forbes (Colombia), May 2022