Venture Catalyst, LLC

Because no one can hear me yelling in my head… Hi, I’m Adaora Ogbue, Founder and Principal of Venture Catalyst, LLC, a consultancy that supports emerging fund managers and helps mission-driven asset owners to align their financial returns with the...

Yes, it's finally here! Venture Catalyst is now on Substack! Check out the first post and subscribe!
open.substack.com/pub/venturec...

Ventures Platform, one of Africa’s most active early-stage investors, has raised another $64M | TechCrunch The Lagos-based firm and one of Africa’s most active early-stage investors is targeting a final close of $75 million for its second fund.

Lagos-based Ventures Platform nears $75M target for its second fund, with Nigerian government, BII & IFC contributing to the $64M raised so far. #investment #startups #VC #VentureCapital
techcrunch.com/2025/11/06/n...

Elizabeth Coll from Hologic displays data comparing Canada to its peers in the Women's Health Index during FemTech Breakfast Club Toronto 2025.

Elizabeth Coll of Hologic shares insights from their latest Women's Health Index, with Canada lagging behind its peers. The data are publicly available at www.womenshealthindex.com. #FemtechBreakfastClub2025 #femtech #womenshralth

Cap Inclusive CEO, Roxanne Leduc, shared some sobering facts to open Femtech Breakfast Club Toronto 2025. Her slide shoes that the chainsaw was invented to cut the pelvis during childbirth.

Did you know that the chainsaw was originally invented for use on the pelvis during problematic child births? Cap Inclusive CEO, Roxanne Leduc, shared some sobering facts to open #Femtech Breakfast Club Toronto 2025. #investment #VC #VentureCapital #womenshealth

FemTech Breakfast Club by Cap Inclusive Cap Inclusive is hosting a women's health pitch competition to find the best next ventures.

Venture Catalyst Founder & Principal, Adaora Ogbue, joins Cap Inclusive's #FemTech Breakfast Club as a jury member today in Toronto, where five #startups will pitch their solutions to pressing issues in #womenshealth. #healthtech #investment #VC #VentureCapital
www.capinclusive.com/femtechbreak...

Swift Pushes Old Payment Rails Into Blockchain Future | PYMNTS.com In business, achieving clarity often accelerates action and progress, which is more valuable than simply moving fast. For much of global trade’s history,

Swift to bring cross-border payment processing into the 21st century by piloting #blockchain based shared ledger infrastructure with 30 banks. Near-instant settlements could revolutionise the future of #fintech & #payments.
www.pymnts.com/news/cross-b...

FemTech Breakfast Club Toronto Jury Members | FemTech Breakfast Club Meet our incredible jury for the 2025 Toronto FemTech Breakfast Club! 💫 We’re thrilled to have these visionary leaders bring deep expertise, insight, and a shared commitment to advancing women's heal...

It's almost time! Cap Inclusive's #FemTech Breakfast Club returns to Toronto tomorrow & our Founder & Principal, Adaora Ogbue, will be joining again as a jury member.

Read more about the jury & #startups that will be pitching here: www.linkedin.com/posts/femtec...
#investment #VC #VentureCapital

Uber-Backed Moove’s Funding Round at $2 Billion Value African vehicle-financing startup Moove is seeking fresh capital at a valuation more than $2 billion, potentially making it one of Africa’s biggest startups, according to people familiar with the matt...

Nigerian auto financing startup, Moove, valued at nearly $2B in funding round led by Uber. #investment #startups #VC #venturecapital
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Deep Tech Forum + Startup Showcase in NYC · Luma We’re excited to announce that Deep Tech Forum + Startup Showcase NYC 2025 will take place on Tuesday, September 23! This year’s event will feature a…

Don't miss the Deep Tech Forum + Startup Showcase NYC 2025 on Tues., Sept. 23. A host of international #startups will be featured with the theme, From Cost to Strategic Growth: How #DeepTech Is Transforming Manufacturing for the Sustainable Economy. #investment #VC #VentureCapital
luma.com/l41u1w5k

LocusX raises $3-million seed round to debug game code with AI | BetaKit The company's AI-based “issue resolution engine” can identify and propose fixes for bugs or programming errors.

Montreal-based LocusX closes $3M Seed #investment for its AI debugging tools for game developers. #gamedev #gaming #startups #VC #VentureCapital #videogames
betakit.com/locusx-raise...

Kenyan Fintech HoneyCoin Raises $4.9M to Expand Stablecoin Payments in Africa and Beyond - TechAfrica News HoneyCoin aims to disrupt Africa's large cross-border payments market, which is often characterized by high fees and slow settlement times.

Kenya's HoneyCoin raises $4.9M Seed #VC #investment round to expand the use of #stablecoins for African cross-border #payments. #Blockchain #crypto #fintech #startups #venturecapital
techafricanews.com/2025/08/12/k...

2025 SoCal - Canadian Black Tech Express Application (EN) The Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles, in partnership with The Daraja Collective, is proud to launch the fourth cohort of the SoCal Black Tech Express, an initiative offering connections to b...

Cohort 4 of SoCal Black Tech Express, hosted by the Canadian Consulate in LA & Daraja Collective, launches during #LATechWeek Oct. 13-17. Apply by Aug. 18 for a chance to pitch for $100K US in #VC #investment. #BlackFounders #BlackTech #BIPOCFounders #VentureCapital
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Investments in adaptation and resilience acquire new urgency as the climate future arrives What investments in climate adaptation and resilience should we be making now, rather than wishing we had been prepared only after the inevitable surprises do indeed catch up with us?

Financing climate adaptation and resilience takes on new urgency.

What was once considered uninvestable has quickly grown to what Temasek and consulting firm BCG call “one of the defining markets of the future.”

impactalpha.com/investments-...

Visa & Absa launch 2025 edition of the She's Next grant competition, which will provide funding, mentorship & business training to women-led #startups in South Africa. Applications close on July 30. #investment #femalefounders
www.visa.co.za/run-your-bus...

Austin Mwape: Getting Zambia’s central bank behind growth capital for small businesses (video) With NABII Zambia, Mwape is working hand in hand with colleagues at the central bank to unlock financing for small businesses.

Agent of Impact Austin Mwape is working with his former colleagues at the Bank of Zambia to unlock financing for small businesses while building a more supportive lending ecosystem.

“We need to start expanding,” Mwape said. “Expansion is what will generate jobs.”

impactalpha.com/austin-mwape...

16 billion passwords for Google, Apple, Facebook leaked in massive data breach, report says Google, Facebook and Apple login credentials were leaked in one of the largest data breaches, Cybernews reports.

16 billion passwords for Google, Apple, Facebook leaked in massive data breach, report says

Top AI models will deceive, steal and blackmail, Anthropic finds The research used hypothetical scenarios, but those situations could get real fast.

NEW: Top AI models across the industry will deceive, steal and blackmail in order to pursue its aims, according to new research from Anthropic

The new math: why seed investors are selling their winners earlier | TechCrunch Charles Hudson had just closed his fifth fund several months ago – $66 million for Precursor Ventures – when one of his limited partners asked him to run

The new math: why seed investors are selling their winners earlier

The 2025 State of Black Venture Report | BLCK VC The State of Black Venture Report 2025 presents the most comprehensive analysis to date of Black professionals across all roles within the venture capital ecosystem. From analysts to general partners,...

BLCK VC releases its 2025 State of Black Venture Report. #investment #vc #venturecapital
www.sobvr2025.blckvc.org

Africa Must Not Be a Spectator in its Own Economic Development: The Need for Pension-Backed Private Capital How tapping pension funds as a source of venture capital can provide a massive infusion of local funding into Africa's high-growth startups.

Africa Must Not Be a Spectator in its Own Economic Development: The Need for Pension-Backed Private Capital

nextbillion.net/africa-must-...

#Africa #ImpactInvesting #VentureCapital #investing #GlobalDevelopment #SubSaharanAfrica #startups #SMEs #MSMEs #funding #EmergingMarkets #Ghana #pensions

#africagrowthfund #impactinvesting #genderlensinvesting #capitalforchange | Criterion Institute Over the past year, the team at Criterion has worked alongside the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund to capture something special: the real, on-the-ground story of how capital is moving differe...

Joy Anderson of Criterion Institute presents lessons learned from the organisation's collaboration on Mastercard Foundation's Africa Growth Fund, online on June 12. #gender #genderlens #gli #investment
www.linkedin.com/posts/criter...

South Loop Ventures closes $21M fund in Houston to build up local tech ecosystem | TechCrunch South Loop Ventures, a Houston-based venture firm, announced a $21 million Fund I, with Rice Management Company and Chevron Technology Ventures serving as

South Loop Ventures closes $21M fund in Houston to build up local tech ecosystem

Brightika charts $3M expansion into PC and console space Mobile game publisher Brightika is expanding into the PC and console business, with $3 million in funding to deploy on indie titles.

After years in the #mobilegames space, Brightika to pour $3M into publishing #videogames for PC & consoles. #gaming #investment #VC #VentureCapital
venturebeat.com/games/bright...

Layer raises $6.5M for next-generation production tools for game makers Layer, the AI application gateway built specifically for game developers, has raised $6.5 million in funding to make game production tools.

Layer secures $6.5M Seed round to expand its next-gen AI production tools beyond #mobilegames to PC & console development. #gamedev #gaming #investment #VC #VentureCapital #videogames
venturebeat.com/game-develop...

Comparing results of images from the JWST to those made by the WISE & Spitzer space telescopes.

Comparing images of Stefan's Quintet in space, taken by the Hubble Telescope & JWST

Comparing results of images from the JWST to those made by the Hubble, WISE & Spitzer space telescopes. #photonics #space

Princeton University's Office of Innovation hosts #Spotlight2025 on the International Day of Light. #AdvancingPhotonicsTechnologies #WeAreAPT #APT #deeptech #FocusOnSPOTLIGHT
innovation.princeton.edu/spotlight

Dr. James Beletic, Chief Scientific Officer at Teledyne Digital Imaging, delivers closing keynote at Spotlight 2025, hosted by Princeton University's Office of Innovation

Astronomy is a time machine: showing the relative time between elements in the universe, including the sun and the Andromeda Galaxy

Dr. James Beletic, Chief Scientific Officer @ Teledyne Digital Imaging, delivers the closing keynote @ Spotlight 2025, hosted by Princeton University's Office of Innovation. His presentation on the James Webb Space Telescope involves peanut M&Ms, a lapel pin & a paper clip... #deeptech #photonics

TaleMonster Games raises $7 million in funding Casual mobile game developer TaleMonster Games has raised $7 million in funding.

TaleMonster Games raises $7M #investment to disrupt the casual #gaming market, which, according to its CEO, has become "too predictable, too optimised, and not enough fun." #mobilegames #startups #VC #venturecapital #videogames
www.gamesindustry.biz/talemonster-...

The Current Approach to Scaling Impact Capital isn’t Working: Why Addressing the Polycrisis Requires More ‘Impact-Native’ Capital Why impact investors should choose “impact-native” firms that treat impact as a driver of stakeholder value, not just a marketing exercise.

The Current Approach to Scaling Impact Capital isn’t Working: Why Addressing the Polycrisis Requires More ‘Impact-Native’ Capital

nextbillion.net/current-appr...

#ImpactInvesting #ESG #SocialImpact #investing #polycrisis #investors #greenwashing @buildersfund.bsky.social @trippbaird.bsky.social