Helios Digital Ventures
Introduction
Giving Africa’s emerging digital champions an unfair advantage
The majority of the world’s young digital natives are in Africa. They are entrepreneurial and connected and will drive the global workforce of the future. Africa’s digital opportunity is all to play for as the continent’s technology startups are ready to scale but early growth funding remains scarce.
We’re here to change the story.
In a young ecosystem, it takes deep local know-how to scale. We know what it takes to build early growth tech startups into Africa’s next scale digital champions and to generate strong returns for investors, founders, and Africans.
Focus areas
3 sectors driving Africa’s scale digital opportunity
We invest in founders building foundational technologies shaping Africa’s digital future. Our focus on
AI, Blockchain, Fintech reflects sectors with the potential to accelerate innovation, democratize financial access and build resilient digital infrastructure across the continent..
AI
Enabling accelerated adoption of AI across industries to solve uniquely African challenges at scale and unlock compounding productivity gains across the continent.
Blockchain
Rebuilding Africa’s financial infrastructure to be more transparent and inclusive, while enabling new models for trust, identity, and value exchange.
Fintech
Critical digital infrastructure and tools for inclusive and more efficient access to financial services.
Investment story - Nomba
Making Payments Smarter, More Accessible, and Affordable for All
Bariga, one of the busiest markets in the vibrant city of Lagos, is now experiencing a financial revolution with Nomba QR. With Nomba QR’s seamless scan-to-pay method, microbusinesses can receive payments instantly, streamline operations, and even enjoy cashback rewards. By eliminating the limitations of cash, merchants can serve their customers with greater efficiency, security, and ease - ushering in a new era of digital commerce.
Our Numbers
What makes us different
Time and again, Helios has proven our platform works. We get Africa. We get investing.
We get business building. When you partner with us as a founder or investor, you access global and on the ground know-how, talent, and networks.
You work with a team dedicated to building Africa’s next scale digital champions and generating attractive return on capital.
Investing where massive regional underfunding meets a shorter path to liquidity.
A well-honed, hands-on business building toolkit, to add pace and scale to growth.
A fund led by investment and operational experts, with a deep local and global network.
Founding, scaling, and exiting African tech businesses since 2004.
Helios Digital Ventures
In 2022, HDV invested in Paymob, an Egypt-based omni-channel payment platform offering a diversified suite of online and offline payment acceptance solutions.
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In September 2022, HDV invested in Nomba, a Nigeria-based omni-channel payment and banking platform enabling payment transfers, acceptance of cards, and offering business management tools.
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In June 2024, HDV invested in Moment, a pan-African digital payments network, to enable real-time local and cross-border payments for businesses and consumers.
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In December 2023, HDV invested in Conduit, a company empowering financial institutions and fintech companies to access and build innovative financial products that leverage blockchain technology.
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In August 2024, HDV invested in Galatea Bio, a biotechnology company with the mission to enable precision health at scale for all by leveraging AI and genomics.
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In November 2024, HDV invested in SeamlessHR, Africa’s leading HR and Payroll SaaS company which offers an all-in-one cloud-based platform to manage HR and payroll needs of African businesses.
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In October 2025, HDV invested in Pave Bank, a fully licensed programmable commercial bank built for the next generation of regulated, on-chain finance.
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In 2026, HDV invested in Sardine, a US-based AI risk platform providing fraud detection, identity verification, payments risk, and AML compliance solutions for enterprises.
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