First Circle

First Circle Capital is a venture capital firm seeding the next fintech generation in Africa, investing at pre-seed and seed and reserving for later rounds as portfolio companies progress through Series A and beyond. The record's sector tags span fintech, consumer and digital health, but the firm's own mandate is narrower and more useful: it backs African fintech teams with a large vision, a differentiated proposition and the operating skill to execute, and it aims to be the first institutional investor on the cap table.

The firm is female-founded and aligns with the 2X Challenge. Managing partners Selma Ribica and Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule both come to investing from operating and company-building roles in emerging markets, and the firm describes itself as built by operators for operators. Its stated model has three parts: capital, deployed early and then used to catalyze additional capital from its network; knowledge, drawn from partners with direct fintech operating history; and networks, connecting management teams to mentors, board advisers, coaches and downstream investors across African and global markets.

The portfolio reflects the geographic spread of African fintech rather than a single market. Power, TurnStay, Opareta, Scale, E-Doc Online, Orca, Credify, MNZL, Pumpkn, Terminal, Balad and Oola span North, East and Southern Africa, including Egypt's MNZL, which raised $3.5 million to build asset-backed lending. The firm runs from a Casablanca office with team members based across the continent, and frames its impact thesis around financial inclusion: digitizing financial services lowers barriers to access, and funding scalable, sustainable models stimulates local economies and creates jobs.