Tofino Capital Backs Startups in Developing Nations

Tofino Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that says it will seek investments in emerging markets, has launched a $10 million fund and has a $5 million close toward the goal, TechCrunch reported Thursday (April 21).

The firm was founded, according to its website, by Eliot Pence and Aubrey Hruby.

Pence led global growth at Anduril Industries, according to his company profile. He holds degrees from the University of Victoria and Yale University.

Hruby is a senior fellow at the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. She co-wrote a book titled, “The Next Africa.” She also was managing director of the Whitaker Group. She holds degrees from the Wharton School and MA from Georgetown University.

Together they co-founded a startup-focused public relations firm called InsidePR.

“The main thesis of the fund is to target large markets with hundreds of millions of people that have minimal access to venture capital. So that does not include China, India, Brazil, those kinds of big markets with a lot of venture capital,” Pence told TechCrunch in an interview. “What we’re talking about here is like Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Mexico, that’s our play — it’s kind of where venture is basically under $5 per capita, and that’s what’s attracted a lot of interest to this next group of big markets.”

Hruby said that Tofino Capital focuses on startups in the B2B segments, particularly those with FinTech, logistics, and marketplaces themes.

“We’ve been exposed and kind of on the front lines of Africa tech for several years and we’ve done some angel investing,” Hruby told TechCrunch.

They told TechCrunch Tofino Capital looks to make investments of between $50,000 and $500,000.