In an ecosystem historically dominated by fintech and e-commerce, commercialising deep science in Africa remains a formidable challenge. Now, Cape Town-based OneBio Venture Studio has secured a R20 million ($1.16 million) grant facility to accelerate its venture-building programme, doubling down on its mission to turn lab research into commercial biotech success.
Led by Michael Fichardt, Nick Walker, and Gian-Marco Melfi, OneBio sits strictly at the intersection of biology and technology (TechBio). The new capital is earmarked to catalyse the firm’s internal venture-building efforts and de-risk early-stage African biotech innovation.
But while the funding is a significant vote of confidence, internal portfolio data reveals the harsh realities of manufacturing science-heavy startups in capital-constrained markets.
The hybrid machine: VC meets venture builder
OneBio operates a complex hybrid model: it functions as both a venture capital fund and a venture builder. Rather than solely investing in external startups for portfolio diversification, OneBio actively manufactures biotech companies from scratch.
It is an ambitious strategy — conceptually similar to US-based Flagship Pioneering — but executing it in Africa requires navigating severe infrastructural constraints. Venture studios demand higher control and capital concentration, which structurally amplifies risk. This is especially true in biotechnology, where R&D cycles span seven to 12 years and burn rates run notoriously high prior to commercial validation.
A reality check
OneBio’s portfolio snapshot highlights both the ambition and the friction of the African deep tech landscape. To date, the firm has made 16 investments and recorded eight exits.
However, a closer look at the data presents a stark reality: six of the 16 investments have resulted shutdowns, including WNNR Biotech, Tryad, Gourmet Grubb, MyBiome, and PharmaHealth Technologies. Currently, the firm has not demonstrated a successful liquidity event, such as an acquisition or IPO.
In traditional venture capital, a 70% to 90% failure rate is standard, provided a few power-law winners return the fund. In the venture studio model — where the builder invests significantly more capital and operational time per startup — expensive failures sting much harder.
Operating a biotech studio in Africa compounds these variables. Startups must navigate limited wet lab infrastructure, weak clinical trial ecosystems, regulatory fragmentation, and an illiquid exit market with few regional acquirers.
Bright spots and pipeline promise
Despite the high attrition rate, there are clear signals of technical competence within the OneBio portfolio. The firm has proven it can build scientifically viable companies, even if sector-wide monetisation remains a bottleneck.
Notable active companies include:
- LifeQ: A revenue-generating wearable health and biometrics company with potential global relevance. LifeQ has raised over $ 47M in funding across two rounds of funding.
- CapeBio: Another revenue-generating biotech firm that successfully leveraged pandemic-era testing tailwinds.
- Altera Biosciences: A pre-clinical startup building a universal donor cell platform to improve transplant medicine. In July 2025, OneBio co-led a R29 million ($1.6 million) pre-seed round into the company, indicating continued pipeline creation.
Other active ventures include microbiome startup Biomine, precision fermentation company Immobazyme, and genomics database builder Bixbio.
Africa’s evolving venture studio landscape
OneBio’s grant push comes as the venture studio model gains unprecedented traction across the continent. Builders are increasingly attempting to engineer startups internally to bypass local market inefficiencies.
For instance, in Côte d’Ivoire, Mstudio has quietly engineered a takeover of the local tech scene. Backed by Ring Capital’s recent $50 million fund, Mstudio accounts for 68% of all disclosed pre-seed and seed rounds in the country since 2023. Taking a 32.5% ownership stake at pre-seed, the studio successfully built five of the country’s top ten funded startups in 2024, including B2B fintechs doo! and Danaya.
Others include:
- Adanian Labs: Operating hubs in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, and Nigeria, Adanian aims to build 300 startups by 2029, with portfolio standouts like healthtech AfyaRekod and SME credit platform Paylend.
- Delta40: Launched in 2023 and aggressively expanding into Nigeria, the studio combines venture building with a VC fund targeting energy, agri-tech, and fintech (e.g., SunFi, Lori Systems). Earlier this year, the firm announced it closed a $20 million fund that includes equity, debt, and grants.
- Purple Elephant Ventures (Kenya): Recently secured a $5 million seed round — the largest for an African tourism-tech builder — to scale startups like Nomad Africa and Kijani Supplies.
- Resilience17 (Nigeria): Formerly Berrywood and backed by Flutterwave CEO GB Agboola, this AI-focused builder launched the Go Time AI accelerator, backing startups like Sahel AI and FriendNPal.
- Fast Forward (Nigeria): Founded by tech veteran Opeyemi Awoyemi, the studio claims a 64x multiple on invested capital through deep operational involvement in startups like Bumpa and Doja.
- Aions (South Africa): A compelling local survival story. Nearly shuttered in its first year, Aions was saved by a last-minute enterprise development investment from Telkom. It has since backed 11 startups, including Franc and Delivery Ka Speed, proving that the studio model can yield sustainable tech businesses in volatile markets.
The bottom line
For OneBio, the new R20 million grant provides critical runway to continue operating its biotech factory and expand its blueprint into markets like Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. The firm has proven it can translate lab research into functioning scientific businesses. Now, the challenge — both for OneBio and the broader African venture studio ecosystem — is proving that these heavily engineered companies can successfully scale, consistently monetise, and ultimately deliver the elusive exits that investors demand.