Founded in 2019 by Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Aruwa Capital Management is a female-founded and led early-stage growth equity and gender lens impact investment firm. Established as one of the few woman-owned and managed private equity funds in Sub-Saharan Africa, Aruwa was created to address the significant investment gap facing women-led enterprises in Africa, where women comprise 40% of all SMEs yet receive only 1% of startup capital.
Founder Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes leveraged over a decade of investment banking and private equity experience from leading global organisations, including J.P. Morgan, having been educated primarily in the United Kingdom and built her career at some of the world’s leading financial institutions, often as one of the only Black women in finance. Aruwa Capital has successfully closed two funds:
- Fund I closed in 2022 at just over $20 million (surpassing its target), oversubscribed with Visa Foundation as the first institutional and anchor investor (committing $4 million), followed by Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, Nyala Venture backed by Financial Sector Deepening Africa Investments, and leading family businesses from Africa, Europe, and the United States. The fund successfully mobilised 30% of its corpus from local investors. Fund II has raised 90% of its target as of April 2025, securing $35 million towards its initial $40 million target (subsequently increased to $50 million with a hard cap of $60 million), representing the largest fundraise to date and surpassing Fund I’s total.
- Fund II attracted returning limited partners including Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund and Visa Foundation, plus new institutional investors such as Bank of Industry (Nigeria’s first local institutional investor in the fund), British International Investment (the UK’s development finance institution and the first international DFI supporting Aruwa), and EDFI Management Company through the European Union-funded Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI), alongside global family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
The firm invests in companies that are too large for Angel investors, but too small for larger private equity funds, specifically targeting the underfunded early-stage Pre-Series A venture capital segment in Nigeria and Ghana. Aruwa employs an “Invest, Operate & Empower” model, taking an active, hands-on approach as local investors with on-the-ground presence in Nigeria, monitoring investments from both board and day-to-day operational perspectives to ensure social impact and gender mandates are delivered. The firm seeks to be the first institutional investor in target companies.
Aruwa’s investment strategy is built on the conviction that the gender imbalance amongst capital allocators on the continent provides a unique opportunity to invest in untapped segments of the economy, whilst closing gender economic gaps across society and generating enhanced returns. With approximately 4% of capital currently targeted towards female-led businesses in Africa, Aruwa’s gender lens mandate provides a natural competitive advantage to invest in the best businesses providing solutions and the best female entrepreneurs through extensive networks. The firm has made over 50 startup investments to date, with Fund I completing 10 investments, committing over 45% of its capital into a diversified portfolio, and Fund II already completing two investments, including a local manufacturer of safety boots and a fast-growing restaurant chain supporting job creation and inclusive growth.
The firm incorporates comprehensive ESG analysis throughout the investment process from screening to exit, maintaining a documented ESG Manual and policy, conducting in-depth reviews of all ESG factors before deals, engaging third parties for risk assessment where necessary, and monitoring ESG performance through regular documented check-ins with portfolio company management and quarterly board oversight. Aruwa Capital has received significant recognition, including selection for the ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50) 2024, an honour that showcases the most experienced and emerging impact investment firms driving social and environmental progress.
Investment Amount
$500,000 to $2.5 million per investment. Fund II: $0.5 million to $2.5 million per investment. Average ticket size across both funds: $1 million to $3 million. Aruwa seeks to be the first institutional investor in target companies.
Target
- Early-stage Pre-Series A growth companies in Nigeria and Ghana. SMEs in the small to lower mid-market segment that are too large for traditional venture capital but too small for larger private equity funds.
- Companies with strong management teams that meet 2X Global gender lens criteria: businesses providing essential goods and services that specifically or disproportionately benefit women and improve women’s lives, businesses founded or co-founded by women, businesses with women in the workforce or senior leadership, or businesses with gender-diverse teams.
- Innovative, rapidly growing, and profitable companies poised for scale.
- Tech-enabled SMEs. Women-led and women-owned businesses in sectors representing basic needs with consistent demand.
- Companies operating in West Africa’s underserved and overlooked market segments.
- Established and fast-growing companies that are currently undervalued and underserved by larger financial institutions.
Focus Areas
- Healthcare
- Financial services and fintech,
- Renewable energy and cleantech (including solar energy, energy efficiency, mini-grids, stand-alone solar systems, agricultural uses of energy)
- Essential consumer goods and consumer products
- Food products and confectionery
- Media and information services
- Home furnishings
- E-commerce and omniretail
- E-mobility
- Battery and storage solutions
- Energy for productive use.
All investments must align with gender lens investing principles and contribute to job creation, women’s economic empowerment, and sustainable socio-economic development.
