Airbel Ventures
A humanitarian-focused venture fund backing startups that deliver scalable, tech-driven solutions.
About
Today, the humanitarian sector faces a widening funding gap. At the same time, the sector continues to rely on outdated technologies and infrastructure that limit our impact.
We need to fund new solutions that are more scalable, rapid and at lower cost, while leveraging sustainable funding models.
Airbel Ventures is a first-of-its-kind humanitarian-focused venture fund, wholly owned by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). We invest in and support startups in Africa that deliver transformative solutions in climate, health, economic wellbeing, and education.
Through our Pilot Fund, we're demonstrating how venture capital can drive sustainable solutions in the world's most challenging markets. Our vision is to scale this model and reach 100 million people.
Investment Strategy
Sectors
Climate, Health, Economic opportunities, Education
Geographies
Africa, opportunistically MENA
Stage
Seed stage to Series A
Instruments
Convertibles, Equity
Post-Investment Support
Pilot
Test products with IRC Country Programs, building humanitarian use cases
Scale-up
Scale opportunities across Country Programs (20 African markets), peer NGOs to unlock long-term revenue
Ecosystem building
Build evidence base, share case studies, and facilitate learnings among ecosystem actors
Portfolio
Signalytic drives digitization of healthcare systems through their solar-powered computing systems - guaranteeing "digital uptime" and data accessibility for health facilities.
Partner with us and help scale solutions that change lives.
All contributions are tax-deductible donations to the IRC. Contact Anne Partridge (anne.partridge@rescue.org) for more information.