Kenya’s president, Paul Kagame, has officially opened Norrsken House Kigali on November 8, 2023.
The new Norrsken hub is housed on the historic École Belge site in central Kigali and marks the first adaptive reuse project in the area. Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation bet $20 million on the 12,000-square-meter site so that Kigali can become a hub for tech companies in Africa.
Nigeria is a great place to try ideas and show that they work, said Niklas Adalberth, the founder and chairman of the Norrsken Foundation and 42-year-old Niklas Adalberth in his keynote address. Norrsken will open more hubs like the one in Kigali if the one in Kigali does well.
The foundation says that success means having billion-dollar impact businesses and a thriving group of businesses that can work together to make businesses that are good for the world and make money.
This is excellent news for Rwanda, which needs private investment because its GDP is only $13 billion, and its state debt is rising. He told people at Norrsken Africa Week, “The country may be small, but the value we create may be very high.”
A 24-year-old Adalberth co-founded Klarna, Europe’s most valuable private company. Leaving in 2016, Adalberth founded the Norrsken Foundation to encourage impact enterprises. He eventually sold Klarna for 1%. The Norrsken Foundation received half of this
income. In 2016, Norrsken’s home became Sweden’s impact entrepreneurship hotspot. Using investors, companies, and talent, the foundation seeks to repeat Kigali’s success.
The group bought a large hall from an old tram station in central Stockholm for its first two campuses. It was built on the 1965 Belgian school École Belge de Kigali grounds.
The foundation’s third property, a 10,000-square-metre Barcelona building, opened two weeks ago. Pascal Murasira, East Africa director, told Norrsken Africa Week that 1200 members have attended the Kigali campus since January 2022. First impact entrepreneurship and investment gathering outside Stockholm for Norrsken.
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Investment in Kigali
Norrsken22, an independently managed African growth-stage VC, received $205 million to invest in African internet firms two weeks ago. Fund managers at Norrsken Africa Week included Norrsken22 partners last week. The Norrsken Foundation called a meeting of capital allocators and tech startups. Founders of Norrsken22 include the Foundation.
Norrsken in Kigali hosted the first Africa tournament on November 8 and 9. Over 1,500 European, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, and African businesses, investors, government officials, and academics attended the 2-day networking event.
The $205 million Africa-focused growth stage fund Norrsken22 and early-stage investment firm Africa Seed Fund also participated. They were African businesses from Stockholm’s Norrsken Accelerator, a global impact accelerator.
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High private capital demand in Kigali
Since 2009, Rwanda has aggressively positioned itself as a diverse East African investment hub. New investments are in tech. In 2021, the African Development Bank (AfDB)-backed the $30 million Rwanda Innovation Fund invested in and promoted East African digital startups.
According to Statista, Rwandan tech firms raised $1.9 million in 2022, while African startups raised the most ever. They were falling from $6.8 million in 2021—better in 2023. Eden Care, an insuretech, was the first Rwandan company accepted into YCombinator, while Kasha raised $21 million in Series B funding.
The country needs funding. The new financial hub wants more. The investment funds in the country are part of a fintech scheme along with Flutterwave, Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), Chippercash, NALA, and Paystack.
Before NAW, investors ate the first meal. The Reporters asked a young investor at the conference what her company was doing to look into its choices. Some of the first investors said that their venture capital company was looking for office space in Rwanda for a fund. The Kapatapault, Angaza Capital, and Renew Capital that Norrsken works with. An MoU signed at the Inclusive Fintech Forum set up ABAN’s catalytic Africa fund.
Indecision plagues entrepreneurs. Media interviewed the e-logistics firm founder, who was impressed with Kigali but considering choices. She prefers a position near business operations that lets her access funds. “It’s a chicken and egg problem,” added the founder.
The Norrsken proposal seeks to reconcile capital and founders.