Orios Capital, a Ghanaian venture capital firm, has announced plans to raise more than $1m to co-invest in scalable and impact-based startups in Africa.

Kweku Awotwi, Chairman of Orios Capital, said: “Our work is pivotal in redefining solutions to poverty reduction in Africa. We want to be the Fund that provides the patient capital needed to transform such businesses to achieve that mandate.”

“We strongly believe that our strong Governance Structure and cumulative experience will serve as a differentiating factor in disrupting the private equity market for Startups,” he said.

Some of the key sectors that Orios is targeting include healthcare, technology, services, agribusiness, clean water, formal housing and quality education.

Orios Capital said it is set to formally launch its operations later this year as it continues its own fundraising to seed Ghanaian startups when it announces its first call for proposals.

According to John Armah, Co-founder and CEO of Orios, the firm is expecting to raise its seed capital from institutional investors, donors and private equity firms.

Established in 2012 as the Ghana Centre for Entrepreneurship, Employment and Innovation (GCEEI), Orios Capital has developed into one of Africa’s emerging venture capital funds for startups.

Over the past four years, the company has trained over 5,000 SMEs and been the brain behind some of the most successful startups from Ghana, including Wear Purple, Oasis Websoft, CellAfrique.net, UTAMA Africa Ltd, Chaste clothing, BKC Consulting and AgroSoft Ghana Ltd.

The company operates from its head office in Accra with intentions to extend its services into other African countries within the next three years.