Flat6Labs, a prominent regional startup accelerator and early-stage investor, has reorganised its operations after 14 years, creating a new parent entity, F6 Group, and spinning out its investment arm into a dedicated seed-stage firm, F6 Ventures.
The new structure is designed to create a clearer separation between the company’s investment activities and its widely known accelerator programmes.
F6 Ventures will now manage the group’s venture capital funds, while Flat6Labs will continue to operate its founder support and ecosystem-building initiatives under new leadership.
F6 Ventures launches with six funds, representing over $90 million in assets under management (AUM) and a historical portfolio of more than 300 companies. The new firm is co-founded by Ramez El-Serafy and Dina el-Shenoufy, who previously led Flat6Labs and will serve as General Partners.
“F6 Ventures marks a new era in our journey, bringing focused capital and sharper execution to support the region’s boldest founders,” said Dina el-Shenoufy. El-Shenoufy also takes on the role of CEO for the parent F6 Group, with Flat6Labs founder Hany Al Sonbaty serving as Chairman.
The move comes as venture funding across Africa and the Middle East has contracted since the highs of 2021–2022, creating a particularly challenging environment for founders at the earliest stages. The company says F6 Ventures is intended to address this financing gap at the pre-seed and seed stages.
“Over more than a decade, we’ve empowered thousands of founders and helped bold ideas grow into market-leading startups,” said Ramez El-Serafy. “I’m excited to begin this new chapter with F6 Ventures helping founders scale faster.”
While F6 Ventures handles the capital, the Flat6Labs brand will continue under the leadership of newly appointed CEO, Yehia Houry, focusing exclusively on running its accelerator programmes.
The New Africa Fund
A central pillar of the new strategy is the Africa Seed Fund, which has a target size of $85 million and a hard cap of $100 million.
Earlier this year, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, announced its consideration of a $6 million equity investment into the fund. The proposed investment includes $5 million from the IFC’s own account and up to $1 million from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).
The fund, managed by F6 Ventures, will target investments in over 160 early-stage tech startups across North, West, and East Africa over the next five years. Investment ticket sizes will range from $150,000 to $500,000.
Key markets for the fund include Egypt, which is targeted to receive 49% of the deployed capital, alongside Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, and Senegal. The investment focus will span sectors such as FinTech, HealthTech, EdTech, GreenTech, and AgriTech.
F6 Group projects that the new fund’s portfolio companies will generate over $700 million in revenue and create more than 14,000 jobs. It has also set a target for 20% of the 1,200 founders it aims to support to be women.
Looking ahead, F6 Ventures plans to launch several new regional funds across Africa, the GCC, and the Levant, with a stated goal of expanding its AUM to $200 million and investing in over 200 new companies within the next five years.