New Delhi, May 12 -- Helios Investment Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Africa that manages assets worth over $3 billion, is set to get another European limited partner (LP) for its fifth flagship fund that is targeting a corpus of $750 million.
The London-headquartered PE firm, which launched the vehicle in 2024, is likely to receive a capital commitment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a multilateral developmental bank. The international financial institution is considering a potential investment of up to $75 million for Helios Investors V, VCCircle has learnt.
Helios will make equity and equity-related investments in mid- to large-sized companies predominantly across the African continent through the fund. It achieved the first close in the last quarter of 2025.
Earlier, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's investment bank, had committed $75 million towards the fund. The World Bank's private-sector investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) has also committed $75 million towards the fund. German development financier DEG invested $25 million into the vehicle.
Helios, which has offices across Nairobi, Paris, and Lagos, launched Fund V after it closed its $1.4-billion fourth fund after having secured only a quarter of the record targeted sum. Fund V aims to invest in 10-12 companies, with an average ticket size of $70-80 million (excluding co-investment amounts).
The fund's focus sectors include digital infrastructure like data centers, fibre networks and telecom towers;, financial services and financial technology such as banktech, payments, and financial management software tech-enabled business services like cloud services, regtech, healthtech and logisticstech; and consumer non-discretionary such as food and beverage, healthcare, and education. It will also support companies that help provide healthcare or education and training.
Simultaneously, the PE firm is also raising another vehicle, a specialized $400-million climate-linked fund, CLEAR, which stands for Climate, Energy, Adaptation and Resilience Fund. It hit the first close in 2024, collecting $200 million from investors such as the EIB, British International Investment and FMO. Last year, it set up a new $75 million fund targeting sports and entertainment.
Helios, co-led by Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye, has raised $3.8 billion in private equity, credit, and co-investment funds, with investment across 30 African countries since establishing in 2004.
The other specialized funds raised by the investment firm include Helios Digital Ventures,, Helios Seven Rivers Fund, and Helios Energy Transition Infrastructure.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.