Pioneer Fund

Pioneer Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund established in 2018 and based in San Francisco, California. It focuses on investments in top startups that have emerged from Y Combinator, leveraging a network of over 200 alumni from the accelerator program. The fund aims to support innovative companies at their inception, providing not only capital but also strategic guidance to foster growth and success in the competitive startup landscape.

Jon Armstrong

Venture Partner

Erica Brescia

Venture Partner

Corey Centen

Venture Partner

Cobi Druxerman

Venture Partner

Jarret Glasscock

Venture Partner

Hans Erik Holmen

Partner

Ritesh Malik

Venture Partner

Espen Malmo

CEO and Partner

Dave Messina

Partner

Stephanie Shyu

Venture Partner

Preben Songe-Møller

Partner and Chairman

Past deals in Nigeria

Curacel

Seed Round in 2023
Curacel is building the largest healthcare data platform in Africa. We deliver productivity tools and IT infrastructure to healthcare stakeholders across the continent, empowering them to digitize business processes, connect with stakeholders across the spectrum, and make decisions based on data that is otherwise unavailable. Curacel’s vision is to build a connected healthcare ecosystem for low income economies, to optimize the use of scarce resources, improve patient outcomes, and inform research, policy-making and public health in Africa with 360 degree data for the first time.

54gene

Series A in 2020
54gene develops a pan-African biobank to identify new drug targets, and develop diagnostics and treatments for diseases. The company targets multiple disease states, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neuro-degenerative disease. It also provides genetic testing and molecular diagnostics services. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in San Francisco, California with an additional offices in Lagos, Nigeria.

54gene

Seed Round in 2019
54gene develops a pan-African biobank to identify new drug targets, and develop diagnostics and treatments for diseases. The company targets multiple disease states, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neuro-degenerative disease. It also provides genetic testing and molecular diagnostics services. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in San Francisco, California with an additional offices in Lagos, Nigeria.