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Federico Pirzio-Biroli, Founder of Playfair Capital, is coming to East Africa for some Angel Investing

by Milicent Atieno
Federico Pirzio-Biroli, Founder of Playfair Capital, is coming to East Africa for some Angel Investing

Federico Pirzio-Biroli, Founder of Playfair Capital, is coming to East Africa for some Angel InvestingThere is a new angel in town; an Angel investor for that matter. Federico Pirzio-Biroli commonly referred to as Fede, a founder of the London-based Playfair Capital tech venture capital firm.

According to Business Insider, Fede, one of London’s best-known VC funds is moving to East Africa and shutting down his coworking space. Apparently, Fede is fascinated by frontier markets and is confident he will replicate his admirable achievement in London somewhere else in Africa.

Fede is quoted saying: “My decision to move to East Africa was made in November. I am and have always been personally excited by frontier markets, and feel like there is a real opportunity to move the needle there for the better.”

It might be worth noting that Fede has worked for some NGOs in Africa before venturing into the tech venture capital business. His decision to move to Africa is probably based on his experience in the continent.

As an individual investor, Fede is said to have started investing in startups as early as in 2011. Two years down the line, Fede has over 20 companies under his investment portfolio. Through that time, he has been a resident angel investor at the White Bear Yard.

Through Playfair Capital, he has invested in several companies throughout the UK, US, greater European region and even in Africa. (FYI, Nigeria’s Andela and Kenya’s Mobius Motors have been bankrolled by Fede.)

Currently, it is not clear what type of tech startups are in Fede’s radar. However, if history is anything to go by, our informed guess will be in startup entrepreneurs with products or ideas that promise to change people’s lives, how they work or play.

The flip side of the story is that, as Fede will be moving to East Africa, his Playfair Capital will be shutting down its coworking space located at Warner Yar in Clerkenwell. A coworking space that housed about a dozen of early stage tech startups and also doubles up as the London base of the Techstars accelerator.

About this Playfair Capital said in a post. “It is with a heavy heart that we oversee the transition of Warner Yard away from coworking, but we are also excited by the opportunities which this change will bring, most notably allowing Playfair to fully concentrate on what it does best; investing in startups.”

Fede is planning on handing over control of Playfair Capital to his remaining staff, and later becoming a limited partner instead of a general partner.

Fede adds, “Playfair Capita is well positioned and will continue going from strength to strength without my operational involvement.”

Related: Things you should know before launching your business in Africa

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