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Sheba Ventures

Our approach

A thesis-driven investor with an operator's instincts.

We invest early, concentrate our portfolio and stay close to our founders. Here is how we think, what we look for and how we work.

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Investment thesis

What we believe

01

Infrastructure beats apps

We favour companies building rails (payments, logistics, energy, data) that others build on, compounding with every new customer.

02

Distribution is the moat

In frontier markets, reaching customers is the hard part. We back teams with an unfair advantage in getting there.

03

Capital efficiency wins

Our founders build businesses with real unit economics early, so they can raise on their terms, or not at all.

Criteria

What we look for

We don't expect every box to be ticked. We do expect founders to know which ones aren't, and why.

  • A founding team with earned insight into the customer problem
  • A large or fast-growing market with a clear wedge
  • Early evidence of pull: users, revenue, pilots or LOIs
  • A credible path to £100M+ in enterprise value
  • Raising pre-seed, seed or Series A
  • Building in or for Africa, or diaspora-founded

Stages & cheque sizes

£250k to £1.5M, pre-seed to Series A

We typically lead or co-lead, take a board or observer seat where useful, and reserve capital to follow on in our strongest companies.

Pre-seed

£250k – £500k

Exceptional teams with a sharp insight and an early product.

Seed

£500k – £1M

Product in market with early signs of retention and revenue.

Series A

£1M – £1.5M

Repeatable growth and a clear path to scale; often co-leading.

Process

From application to term sheet in about six weeks

Transparent at every step. If we can't move forward, we'll tell you quickly and share why.

  1. 1

    Application

    Day 0

    Apply online with your deck and key metrics. Every application is read by a member of the investment team.

  2. 2

    Screening call

    Within 2 weeks

    A 30-minute conversation about you, the problem and the market. We'll tell you honestly whether we're likely to proceed.

  3. 3

    Partner meeting

    Weeks 2–3

    A deeper session with two partners on product, go-to-market and your plan for the round.

  4. 4

    Due diligence

    Weeks 3–5

    Customer calls, financial model review and references: focused, proportionate and run in parallel to save you time.

  5. 5

    Investment committee

    Week 5

    You'll meet the full partnership. We aim to give you a decision within 48 hours.

  6. 6

    Term sheet

    Week 6

    Clear, founder-friendly terms using standard documents. We work with your counsel to close quickly.

After we invest

A platform built around founders

Capital is the start. Our team and network work alongside you from first cheque to exit.

  • Talent

    Introductions to senior hires, board members and advisers from our operator network.

  • Customers & partners

    Warm introductions to banks, telcos, distributors and corporates across our markets.

  • Follow-on fundraising

    Investor mapping, deck reviews and introductions to leading Series A and B funds.

  • Governance & compliance

    Board support, licensing guidance and help structuring for multiple jurisdictions.

  • Operator playbooks

    Templates and peer sessions on pricing, hiring, finance and market expansion.

  • Storytelling

    Support with launches, press and positioning as you build your brand.

Building something ambitious?

We read every application and reply to every founder. If you're raising pre-seed to Series A, we'd love to hear from you.

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