Knight Ventures

Knight Ventures is a Pan-African digital accelerator headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with an additional US presence in Olney, Maryland. Originally founded in 2012 in Warrington, United Kingdom as a specialist capital provider to small and growing technology, media, and telecoms companies, the firm has evolved into an Africa-focused accelerator platform. Its mission is to develop 100 high-growth tech-enabled startups to scale and commercial success, with a preference for founders of African descent or affinity building businesses targeted at the African market. Knight Ventures runs three programs: an Incubation Program for early-stage ideation-stage founders, a 12-week remote Acceleration Program for teams ready to scale and attract investment, and an Investor Connect network bridging portfolio companies to seed and Series A capital. The firm has made approximately 5 tracked investments across software, healthtech, media, and data analytics sectors. Portfolio companies include digi.me (personal data platform, exited October 2022), Afrihealth (invested via the accelerator program in August 2024), and Bright Harbor (information services, March 2025). Technology partners supporting the accelerator include Twilio, Salesforce, AWS Activate, Zendesk, and ClickUp. Knight Ventures works closely with affiliated entities Acceleris and Knight Corporate Finance. The firm selects cohorts from incorporated businesses targeting the African market, with a preference for teams of two to three co-founders. By combining early-stage capital, structured programming, and a network of technology and investor partners, Knight Ventures aims to fill the mentorship and funding gap for African founders building scalable internet and technology businesses.