TLcom & FirstCheck in co-invest pact

TLcom Capital has signed a co-investment agreement with a Nigeria-based venture capital firm, FirstCheck Africa to back early-stage pre-seed technology deals, across Africa.

This pact will see TLcom grow its deal strategy into backing more pre-seed deals. The investor typically backs seed to series-B investments.

As part of the agreement, TLcom has committed to co-invest $2 million in deals backed by FirstCheck Africa Fund I, a vehicle sized at $10 million. This raises FirstCheck’s investment capability to $12 million.

TLcom will be co-investing from Technology and Innovation in Developing Economies (TIDE) Africa Fund II, which is targeting $150 million at final close.

FirstCheck on the other hand will be backing deals through its debut fund, FirstCheck Africa Fund I.

Also as part of the agreement, TLcom has appointed Eloho Omame, co-managing partner at FirstCheck, as partner.

She will maintain her role as co-managing partner at FirstCheck.

Maurizio Caio [pictured] is founder and managing partner at TLcom.

Odunayo Eweniyi is co-founder and general partner at FirstCheck.

TLcom was set up in 1999 to back early-stage deals, globally and had over $300 million in assets under management, as of 2017.

Meanwhile, FirstCheck was set up in 2021, to back early-stage deals, with a focus on women-led companies, across Africa.

The investor’s ticket sizes have been set at $0.25 million per deal.