ANAVA Fund of Funds Explained: Tunisia's VC Engine

ANAVA is the fund of funds behind most venture capital now raised in Tunisia. It does not invest in startups directly. It puts money into venture funds, and those funds invest in startups. Founders who understand how it works will know where local seed money comes from and what conditions come with it.

What the ANAVA fund of funds is

ANAVA is Tunisia's first euro-denominated fund of funds and a key part of the government's Startup Tunisia programme, which also runs the Startup Act label (see the Startup Act explained). It is managed by Smart Capital, a management company licensed by the Conseil du Marché Financier (CMF) and mandated by the state to run Startup Tunisia.

The money comes from two sources:

• Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), the anchor investor, with €40 million. This money comes from a World Bank loan to Tunisia under the "Innovative Startups and SMEs" project, a $75 million operation announced in June 2019 with the CDC as implementing agency.
• KfW, the German development bank, which signed a €20 million subscription on 1 December 2022, along with a separate €4 million technical assistance agreement.

Together these give a first close of €60 million, against an initial target of €100 million. Some press reports give the fund's size as "$60 million". The figures in Smart Capital's announcements are in euros.

How a fund of funds works

ANAVA acts as a limited partner (LP). It commits capital to private venture funds managed by independent teams. Those managers pick startups, sit on boards and raise money from other investors. ANAVA usually covers part of each fund, so every euro it commits can bring in money from other LPs.

The approach is sector- and stage-agnostic, covering seed through growth. When KfW signed in 2022, the plan was for 13 underlying funds by 2025. By early 2025, Launch Base Africa and The Condia reported about €45 million committed across ten funds: seven focused on Tunisia and three pan-African. Some regional funds only have to invest part of their capital in Tunisia. For example, about 15% of ANAVA's commitment to Silicon Badia's fund was earmarked for Tunisia-based startups, according to Africa Private Equity News.

Who ANAVA has backed

Commitments announced by Smart Capital and reported by the Tunisian and African press:

• 216 Capital Fund I (216 Capital Ventures): €6 million, May 2022, ANAVA's first underlying fund. It targets about 50 pre-seed and seed startups with average tickets of about €100,000.
• Badia Impact Squared Fund (BIF2) (Silicon Badia): $5.2 million, July 2022. BIF2's first investment was Tunisian fintech Expensya.
• Titan Seed Fund I (Medin): about 5 million (reported in both dollars and euros), October 2023. It invests in deep tech at seed stage, with roughly 20 startups and tickets of €300,000–650,000.
• Janngo Capital Startup Fund: €4 million, March 2024. ANAVA's first pan-African commitment, for a fund targeting €60 million.
• Go Live Fund (Go Big Partners): €4.5 million, July 2024, for an €8 million fund aiming at 36 early-stage B2B startups.
• LoftyInc Alpha Fund I: $2.5 million, March 2025.
• New Era Fund I (UGFS-VC): €3.5 million, April 2025, for a fund targeting €15 million and Series A companies in AI, biotech and green tech.
• Rasmal Innovation Fund I (Qatar): $4 million, September 2025, to connect Tunisian startups with Gulf investors.

Flat6Labs' Tunisia Seed Fund II, launched with Smart Capital in 2024, and a second 216 Capital fund are also listed among ANAVA's funds. The amounts are not consistently reported, so they are not in the chart.

What it has achieved so far

The Condia reported in early 2025 that ANAVA's underlying funds had invested in 45 startups across 12 African countries, and that the programme targets 230 beneficiary startups by 2027. A companion programme, DEAL 2.0, offers investment-readiness support to more than 200 startups.

The clearest effect is on the market's structure. Five years ago, Tunisia had very few active seed funds. Now there are several local managers with fresh capital, and they made most of the deals reported in 2025–2026 (see funding trends). 216 Capital, for example, invested in Juridoc.tn, Addvocate.AI, EYST and RoboCare and launched an accelerator with Plug and Play in September 2025.

Limits and criticisms

• Scale. Even at €100 million, ANAVA is small next to Egypt's or Morocco's markets. Tunisia's total venture funding in 2025 was about $39 million (AVCA).
• Leakage to other countries. Several of the 45 startups are outside Tunisia. That is the price of attracting pan-African managers, and Launch Base Africa notes that it limits ANAVA's impact on Tunisia itself.
• Timing. In the first half of 2026, Launch Base Africa found almost no disclosed equity deals in Tunisia. This suggests ANAVA-backed funds alone cannot offset weak macroeconomic conditions, FX restrictions and the 2025 labour law.
• Reporting. Public data is scattered across press releases, sometimes with conflicting currencies. A consolidated portfolio report would help founders and LPs.

What it means for fintech founders

• Most local seed cheques now come from an ANAVA-backed fund. Find out which funds invest in fintech and at what ticket size (see VC firms in Tunisia).
• Pan-African funds such as Janngo, LoftyInc and Rasmal can now invest in Tunisia more easily. They are worth approaching for a seed or Series A round.
• Regulated fintechs should expect investors to check their licensing route closely. Few funds will take on unlimited regulatory risk.