Morocco-based institutional investor ASMA Invest has invested in SEAF Morocco Growth Fund (SMGF). The amount raised remains undisclosed.

Launched in September 2018, the SMGF focuses on investing in early-stage startups and SMEs based in and outside Morocco. The Fund was created as part of the "InnovInvest Fund (IFI)" programme managed by the Caisse Centrale de Garantie to promote innovative entrepreneurship.

Other fund shareholders include La Caisse Centrale de Garantie, La Caisse Marocaine des Retraites, Bank of Africa (BMCE Bank), USAID (Wise Venture Capital), and the SEAF group.

"The entry of ASMA INVEST demonstrates the confidence of leading institutional investors in supporting innovative companies and their willingness to support talented Moroccan entrepreneurs, a very buoyant segment with a strong impact on the national economy,” said Meriem Zairi, managing director of the Fund. “This is all the more timely in the context of the economic crisis linked to Covid, in which companies will have to redouble their innovation to seize emerging opportunities.”

The investment will help the Fund to continue supporting local entrepreneurs and accelerate the launch and expansion of their companies.

"We are pleased with our association with SEAF, with a track record of more than 30 years in emerging countries, which allows us, through its SMGF fund, to contribute to the emergence of great initiatives carried by a gifted Moroccan youth, in whom we must have confidence,” said Hicham Safir, managing director of ASMA Invest.

Founded in 1989, ASMA Invest’s committed investment portfolio stands at MAD 5 billion, ranging from real estate and agriculture - directly managed - to equity investments in several companies.