Helios Investment Partners

Helios Investment Partners is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in buyouts of going concerns, recapitalization, mezzanine, growth capital for private enterprises, restructurings joint ventures, startups; either green-field or brownfield; and the majority or blocking-minority structured investments in listed entities. It seeks to invest in the telecommunications, media, financial services, power, utilities, travel, leisure, distribution, fast-moving consumer goods, logistics, and Agro-allied sectors. The firm prefers to invest in Africa with a focus on Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. It seeks to invest between $15 million and $200 million in an individual transaction. The firm prefers to have a board seat in its portfolio companies. Helios Investment Partners LLP was founded in 2004 and is based in London, United Kingdom.

46 past transactions

Nomba

Series B in 2023
Nomba is a fintech company that offers financial software solutions. They provide fintech services such as bussiness saving, joint bussiness saving, card payments, POS terminals, management, and banking tools solutions for bussiness.

Paymob

Series B in 2022
Paymob is a regional digital payments enabler that builds payments infrastructue technologies empowering the underserved with access to financial services. Paymob is bridging the financial inclusion gap in MEA region by enabling businesses of all sizes to benefit from the power of digital payments and what it unlocks. Paymob was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

Zola Electric

Venture Round in 2021
ZOLA Electric designs renewable energy solutions based on the latest in solar, battery and power electronics technology. Adaptable to energy need and income, ZOLA Electric’s solar systems can be bought over time using PAYGo micro-finance leasing and mobile money payments. ZOLA Electric powers more than 180,000 homes and businesses across Tanzania, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Investors include Tesla, Vulcan Capital, DBL Partners, Helios Investment Partners, EDF, Total and GE Ventures. ZOLA Electric is a recipient of the UN Momentum for Change Award, the Zayed Future Energy Prize and is a member of the Global Cleantech 100.

Techniques Science Santé

Acquisition in 2021
Techniques Science Santé is a distributor of high tech medical equipment. For 25 years, T2S has been the leader in the distribution and maintenance of radiology (MRIs, scanners) and radiotherapy equipment (accelerators for oncology) and has today the largest installed base in Morocco. It has since broadened its product range and is now the one stop shop service provider for healthcare projects. It is active in Africa since 2008 and has run projects in Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Mali. The company has revenues of c.m40€ and has 140 employees.

Africell Holding

Debt Financing in 2021
Africell was established in 2001 in Africa and has been shaped by traditional African values, putting the communities in their markets at the heart and soul of our business. Connecting and empowering local communities lies at the very core of our strategy. Africell is one of the fastest-growing mobile telecommunications operators in Africa. They have established theirselves as the number one provider in Gambia and Sierra Leone and are rapidly growing our newer operations in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, where we purchased Orange Uganda. Africell Holding owns 100% of Africell’s operations in Gambia, Sierra Leone, DRC, and 98.99% of Africell Uganda. The total number of active subscribers reached 11 million by end of 2016. All four operations offer voice and 3G data services with plans to deploy LTE services, which are already available in Kampala, Uganda.

Thunes

Series B in 2021
Founded in 2016, Thunes is a global B2B payment infrastructure platform that powers payments for the world’s fastest-growing businesses – from gig economy giants such as Uber and Deliveroo and Southeast Asia’s super-app Grab to global fintech leaders such as PayPal, Remitly, Finastra and Revolut. Through a single, simple connection, consumers and businesses can send payments to – and get paid in – every corner of the world. Thunes currently supports 80 currencies, enables payments to 132 countries and helps to accept 300 payment methods. In April 2022, Thunes acquired a controlling stake in a leading anti-money laundering and compliance platform company Tookitaki, which now enables the company’s advanced compliance, anti-fraud and anti-money laundering capabilities, setting an international benchmark for sustainable compliance. The company is headquartered in Singapore, with regional offices in London, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Miami and Nairobi. Current investors include Visa, EDBI, Endeavor Catalyst, Marshall Wace, Bessemer Venture Partners, 01Fintech, Future Shape, Insight Partners, Checkout.com, Helios Investment Partners and GGV Capital. For more information, visit www.thunes.com

Starsight Energy

Debt Financing in 2021
Starsight Energy provides premier clean on-grid and off-grid energy services to commercial and industrial clients in Africa. We make clean energy a smart bottom-line decision for clients by eliminating all up-front costs. Clients pay an all-inclusive monthly fee for end-to-end service.

Starsight Energy

Debt Financing in 2020
Starsight Energy provides premier clean on-grid and off-grid energy services to commercial and industrial clients in Africa. We make clean energy a smart bottom-line decision for clients by eliminating all up-front costs. Clients pay an all-inclusive monthly fee for end-to-end service.

Taptap Send

Venture Round in 2020
Taptap Send is an app that lets immigrants send money back home to Africa instantly and at very low prices. Since launching in summer 2018, it has already moved hundreds of millions of dollars and reached hundreds of thousands of customers. It is live in seven European countries, and support payments into Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Guinea, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Kenya, Madagascar, Zambia, Vietnam, and DRC, with more countries launching soon

Misr Hytech Seed

Acquisition in 2019
Producer of proprietary agricultural seeds based in Egypt. The company develops hybrid seeds of white corn, yellow corn, grain and fodder sorghum, sweet corn and vegetable for farmers which adapted to the Egyptian market. Misr Hytech is one of Egypt’s leading seed companies. They use the latest breeding, production and conditioning technologies to provide high quality seed to farmers. As part of their overall commitment to their farmer customers, they also provide technical services for farmer’s crop production needs.

Axxela Ltd

Acquisition in 2019
Axxela Limited operates a natural gas distribution network.

Lionano

Series B in 2018
Lionano Inc. is a material manufacturing company commercializing an advanced drop-in replacement material for the lithium-ion batteries. The company focuses on improving the key components of lithium-ion batteries. The material has been nano-engineered to create batteries with greater capacity and cycle life. This technology can enable lighter and lower-cost consumer electronics and longer range for electric vehicles. The technology has been fully developed at Cornell University and Lionano is ready to launch the product. Lionano is led by a combination of unique people: a recent PhD graduate in Chemistry at Cornell University, an MBA from Cornell's Johnson School, a distinguished Professor in electrochemistry research at Cornell University, and an experienced battery industry expert. Lionano was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA.

TPAY Mobile

Acquisition in 2018
TPAY Mobile is an open mobile payment platform that connects consumers, businesses, and mobile operators for operator billing. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

Africell Holding

Debt Financing in 2018
Africell was established in 2001 in Africa and has been shaped by traditional African values, putting the communities in their markets at the heart and soul of our business. Connecting and empowering local communities lies at the very core of our strategy. Africell is one of the fastest-growing mobile telecommunications operators in Africa. They have established theirselves as the number one provider in Gambia and Sierra Leone and are rapidly growing our newer operations in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, where we purchased Orange Uganda. Africell Holding owns 100% of Africell’s operations in Gambia, Sierra Leone, DRC, and 98.99% of Africell Uganda. The total number of active subscribers reached 11 million by end of 2016. All four operations offer voice and 3G data services with plans to deploy LTE services, which are already available in Kampala, Uganda.

Starsight Power Utility

Private Equity Round in 2018
Starsight Power Utility operates as an energy efficiency company. StarSight is an independent energy efficiency company delivering sustainable solar power and cooling services to our customers. Our objective is to achieve significant and measurable cost savings for our clients whilst being the catalyst to deliver a substantial reduction in Carbon Emissions for your business.

Starsight

Private Equity Round in 2018
Starsight provides captive power and energy efficiency solutions to commercial, multi-site clients in Nigeria through long-term contracts.

Zola Electric

Series D in 2018
ZOLA Electric designs renewable energy solutions based on the latest in solar, battery and power electronics technology. Adaptable to energy need and income, ZOLA Electric’s solar systems can be bought over time using PAYGo micro-finance leasing and mobile money payments. ZOLA Electric powers more than 180,000 homes and businesses across Tanzania, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Investors include Tesla, Vulcan Capital, DBL Partners, Helios Investment Partners, EDF, Total and GE Ventures. ZOLA Electric is a recipient of the UN Momentum for Change Award, the Zayed Future Energy Prize and is a member of the Global Cleantech 100.

The Quantum Group

Debt Financing in 2017
The Quantum Group, a company based in Ghana with vertically-integrated operations in the transportation and logistics of refined petroleum products.

Trustco Bank

Post in 2017
The mission of Trustco Bank is to be the low cost provider of high quality services to our customers in the communities we serve and return to our owners an above average return on their investment. To learn more, click on the links below.

Axxela Ltd

Private Equity Round in 2016
Axxela Limited operates a natural gas distribution network.

Zola Electric

Series D in 2016
ZOLA Electric designs renewable energy solutions based on the latest in solar, battery and power electronics technology. Adaptable to energy need and income, ZOLA Electric’s solar systems can be bought over time using PAYGo micro-finance leasing and mobile money payments. ZOLA Electric powers more than 180,000 homes and businesses across Tanzania, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Investors include Tesla, Vulcan Capital, DBL Partners, Helios Investment Partners, EDF, Total and GE Ventures. ZOLA Electric is a recipient of the UN Momentum for Change Award, the Zayed Future Energy Prize and is a member of the Global Cleantech 100.

OVH Energy - Oando Licensee

Private Equity Round in 2016
OVH Energy, is the second largest downstream fuels company in Nigeria.

Telkom Kenya

Acquisition in 2016
Telkom Kenya was established as a telecommunications operator under the Companies Act in April 1999. We provide integrated communications solutions in Kenya with the widest range of voice and data services as well as network facilities for residential and business customers. We are proud to play a prominent role in the information and communications technology sector, serving millions of Kenyans across the country. The company, as at June 2011, has a customer base of approximately 2,800,000 customers on GSM, fixed and CDMA wireless platforms with a country-wide presence.

Crown Agents Bank

Acquisition in 2016
Crown Agents Bank Limited provides banking, public financial management, procurement, supply chain management.

Pipeline Network

Seed Round in 2016
Pipeline implements software based IoT solutions to enable various industries to enjoy increase in yield and efficiency.

Fawry

Private Equity Round in 2015
Fawry is a pioneering Electronic Payment Network, offering financial services to consumers and businesses through more than 65 thousand locations and a variety of channels. It offers a convenient and reliable way to pay bills and other services in multiple channels (online, using ATMs , mobile wallets and retail points) The company's network of retailers includes small groceries, pharmacies and stationaries, and post-offices, all equipped with point-of-sale machines – the same ones used for credit card payments.

Starzs investments company ltd

Debt Financing in 2015
Starzs Investments Company Limited, a leading indigenous Nigerian offshore oil & gas services company.

Wananchi Group

Private Equity Round in 2014
Established in 2008, the Wananchi Group Holdings (Wananchi) is East Africa's leading home entertainment operator.And a serious player in the corporate communications market too. It takes it's name and underlying ethos from the former Wananchi Online, which was committed to servicing the emerging African mass consumer market through provision of high quality yet affordable home internet services. Today It is a fully vertically integrated media and telecoms company consisting of several business divisions providing a unique set of services in the markets which are operated.

Impact Oil & Gas Ltd

Private Equity Round in 2014
Impact Oil & Gas aims to become a leading oil and gas exploration company.

Helios Towers Africa

Private Equity Round in 2014
Helios Towers Africa has operations in Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and a sister company in Nigeria. The number of mobile subscribers in Africa has increased from just 16 million people in 2000 to over 500 million today. Based on these growth levels and without an increase in the sharing of telecoms tower facilities, the number of towers in Africa will need to double from the current number of 75,000, a significant environmental impact.

Mulu

Seed Round in 2013
Mulu is a deep learning platform built specifically to identify millions of commercially available products, however, and wherever they're mentioned online. Publishers and bloggers use Mulu to automatically offer the products they mention for sale on the page. Ad platforms use Mulu to show target ads and build user interest graphs. Retailers and curation sites use Mulu to automate their affiliate links around the web and organize their inventory into thousands of curated collections on the fly.

Bayport Management

Private Equity Round in 2013
Bayport Management Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides retail financial services in the Republic of Mauritius and internationally.

MallforAfrica

Private Equity Round in 2013
MallforAfrica is Africa's larges online mall which enables Africans from 35 countries purchase items from international retailers in the US and UK who do not accept local currency or ship to Africa. Its online platform and payment system gives its users access to over 250 US/UK retailers and over 2 billion products. MallforAfrica was successfully sold with an IP and Platform exit in 2021. MallforAfrica was launched by Chris Folayan in June 2012 and its operations are based in Nigeria

Eland Oil & Gas

Private Equity Round in 2012
Eland Oil & Gas PLC is a Nigeria focused upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production company.

Interswitch

Venture Round in 2011
Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the electronic circulation of money as well as the exchange of value between individuals and organisations on a timely and consistent basis. The company started operations in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing company that builds and manages payment infrastructure as well as deliver innovative payment products and transactional services throughout the African continent.

Vivo Energy

Acquisition in 2011
Vivo Energy is the company behind the Shell brand in Africa and is jointly owned by Vitol, Helios Investment Partners and Shell.

Africatel

Private Equity Round in 2007
Africatel Holding BV, operates as a holding company and provides telecommunication services.

First City Monument Bank

Private Equity Round in 2007
First City Monument Bank is a financial services institution that provides solutions that drive digital transformation in banking. They offer personal banking, business banking, and corporate banking services to large corporations, small, and medium enterprises, as well as individuals.

HTN Towers

Private Equity Round in 2005
HTN Towers are the first independent African tower operator having been established in 2006. We have a diversified tower sites portfolio of over 2, 000 sites, which are urban and sub urban-centric with presence in 34 of the 36 Nigerian states. A third of our sites are located in Nigeria's two largest cities, Lagos and Abuja. We provide the passive infrastructure in the telecom industry, which includes space on ground, tower structure and advanced power management systems for uninterrupted power supply.
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