Flat6Labs is investing almost USD 100 mn in startups across Africa: Egypt-based venture capital firm Flat6Labs launched a USD 95 mn Africa-focused seed fund, it said in a press release (pdf). The Africa Seed Fund (ASF) is both Flat6Labs first venture outside MENA and its first regional fund, TechCrunch quotes Flat6Labs CEO Ramez El Serafy as saying.

The timeline: The fund will onboard two cohorts of 10-15 startups annually, with the first investments to be disbursed before the end of the year, according to the release. The fund is aiming for an initial close this year, TechCrunch reports.

The Egypt-headquartered fund will focus on East, West, and North Africa, and will see Flat6Labs for the first time target startups in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, and Senegal, the release reads. Two-thirds of allocations will go to North African firms, according to TechCrunch. The fund wants to invest in more than 160 early-stage tech startups over the next five years, with a focus on health, fintech, education, agriculture, and sustainable solutions among other sectors.

Bigger investments: Ticket sizes will range from USD 150-400k, with potential follow-on investments of up to USD 500k, according to TechCrunch. That’s higher than Flat6Labs’ ticket sizes for previous funds, which have ranged from USD 30-100k, the news outlet reports.

And a track for experienced founders: Flat6Labs “will also be providing seed tickets to seasoned founders independently of the program,” the release reads.

Target impact: The fund wants to create 14k jobs, support more than 1.2k founders — some 20% of them women — and generate revenue of more than USD 700 mn, the release reads.

Germany is on board: The fund will be supported by German development agency GIZ through two of its agriculture-focused initiatives, the Egyptian Agricultural Innovation Project (AIP) and Scaling Digital Agricultural Innovations through Startups project (SAIS). The press release didn’t specify what form the support will take.