About FirstCheck
FirstCheck is a venture capital firm founded in 2021. It is primarily based out of Lagos, Nigeria. As of Jan 2024, FirstCheck has invested in 13 companies. It primarily invests in Seed round in Kenya based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to Retail and Consumer. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Cleva A lot of funds co-invest with FirstCheck, with names like Chandaria Capital sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. FirstCheck has team of 2 people including 2 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed
FirstCheck's List of Top Investments
FirstCheck has a portfolio of 13 companies. Their most notable investmentis in UncoverTheir portfolio spans across United States, Kenya, Nigeria and 2 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Retail, Consumer and 10 other sectors, across stages such as Seed stage. Here is the list of top investments by FirstCheck:
1. Bumpa
Provider of suite solution for businesses. The platform helps to create an online store. Its features include manage orders & products, track sales, share products across Facebook, Instagram & Twitter, payment gateway, inventory management, sales reports, and send notifications to the customers directly through the app. The company offers mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. The company offers the solution on subscription-based policy.
Key facts about Bumpa
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Lekki (Nigeria)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $4.2M
- Employee Count: 63 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Plug and Play Tech Center, Magic Fund and 19 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Oct 19, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Cleva
Cross-border remittance and currency exchange solution for individuals and businesses. Financial technology company that aims to democratize USD banking for emerging markets to receive USD payments and facilitate cross-border transactions. Enables to receive USD payments through ACH or wires from clients, investors, employers, or any platform, convert USD to local currency through forex cards, and more.
Key facts about Cleva
- Founded Year: 2023
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $1.5M
- Employee Count: 142 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: 1984 Ventures, Rainfall Ventures and 5 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Jan 08, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. MoneyHash
Payment gateway solutions for businesses. It provides an open payment infrastructure that enables the collection of online payments from credit cards, bank transfers, wallets, and more. It features APIs for integration, dynamic routing, checkout suite, and more.
Key facts about MoneyHash
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $18.7M
- Employee Count: 50 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Venture Friends, COTU Ventures and 23 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Jan 21, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. Jumba
Online marketplace procuring building materials for the construction industry. The platform enables users to buy construction materials. It offers materials such as pipes, cement, coast calcium, and more.
Key facts about Jumba
- Founded Year: 2001
- Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $5.5M
- Employee Count: 59 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Latitude, Speedinvest and 9 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Feb 08, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. Uncover
Provider of skincare products. The platform offers moisturizers, cleansers, spot treatments, pimple patches, sunscreen, serums, cleansers, and more. The platform allows users to take quiz and customize the products.
Key facts about Uncover
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $2.4M
- Employee Count: 50 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: EQ2 Ventures, igniteXL Ventures and 9 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Jul 15, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
FirstCheck's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
FirstCheck has invested in 13 companies over the last 4 years, with an average of 0 new investment annually in the last 3 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Cleva and most recent follow-on round was in Jumba.FirstCheck's Investments by Stage
FirstCheck has made 6 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.25M.FirstCheck's Investments by Sector
FirstCheck has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Retail, Consumer, Enterprise Applications, FinTech and Consumer Goods. Notably, it has invested in 12 Tech companies, 9 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 6 Software companies and at least 5 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Retail | 5 |
Consumer | 3 |
Enterprise Applications | 2 |
FinTech | 2 |
Consumer Goods | 1 |
Others | 5 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
FirstCheck's Investments by Geography
FirstCheck has made most investments in Kenya (3), followed by United States where it has made 2 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Kenya | 3 |
United States | 2 |
Nigeria | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
FirstCheck's recent investments
FirstCheck has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by FirstCheck:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 08, 2024 | United States | Seed | 4231 | [+3] | |
Feb 08, 2023 | Kenya | Seed | 8565 | [+5] | |
Dec 01, 2022 | Kenya | Seed | 2156 | [+5] | |
Oct 19, 2022 | Nigeria | Seed | 6910 | [+9] | |
Jun 14, 2022 | Kenya | Seed | 1831 | [+4] |
Team profile of FirstCheck
FirstCheck has a team of 2 members including 2 Partners located in United Kingdom. FirstCheck's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Co-investors of FirstCheck
Over the past 4 years, 76 investors have co-invested in FirstCheck's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before FirstCheck: Greencap Equity, HoaQ and 12 others have invested in rounds before FirstCheck. There is 1 company where Greencap Equity has invested before FirstCheck and 1 company where HoaQ has invested before FirstCheck.
- Top Co-investors of FirstCheck: 45 investors entered a company along with FirstCheck. These include investors like Chandaria Capital (2 companies).
- Invested after FirstCheck: A total of 17 investors have invested in FirstCheck's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Tom Preston-Werner (1 company), RZM Investment (1 company) and Dubai Future District Fund (1 company).
Recent News related to FirstCheck
•
Cleva raises USD 1.5 million in pre-seed fundingThe Paypers•Jan 08, 2024•1984 Ventures, Cleva, FirstCheck, The Raba Partnership and 4 others
•
Jumba raises $4.5 million to boost its building materials supply business in KenyaEcofin Agency•Feb 20, 2023•Jumba, LocalGlobe, Enza Capital, Foundamental and 9 others
•
Kenya’s Uncover raises $1M to expand skincare product enterprise across AfricaTechCrunch+•Dec 02, 2022•FirstCheck, Uncover SkinCare, Future Africa, igniteXL Ventures and 3 others
•
Bumpa, a social commerce startup based in Nigeria has raised $4 million seed funding roundTechgist Africa•Oct 26, 2022•Bumpa, Base10 Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, SHL Capital and 7 others
•
Nigerian retail automation platform Bumpa raises $4M, led byrealnewshub.com•Oct 19, 2022•Bumpa, SHL Capital, Magic Fund, Plug and Play Tech Center and 11 others
•
TLcom Capital will co-invest $2 million in venture capital firm FirstCheck AfricaEcofin Agency•Jun 28, 2022•TLcom, FirstCheck
•
Kenya’s Jumba bags $1M to help operators of hardware stores restock seamlesslyTechCrunch+•Jun 15, 2022•Seedstars, Enza Capital, Jumba, Chandaria Capital and 7 others
•
FoondaMate, a South African ed-tech startup, has raised $2 million in seed fundingTechgist Africa•May 27, 2022•FoondaMate, LocalGlobe, Emerge, FirstCheck and 6 others
•
TopUp Mama Raises $1.7m to Support African RestaurantsKenyan Wall Street•May 14, 2022•TopUp Mama, Ventures Platform, JAM Fund, Next Billion Ventures and 6 others
•
Tushop Raises $3M Pre-Seed Funding to Scale Community Group-Buying in KenyaTechMoran•Mar 31, 2022•Tushop, 4DX Ventures, Breyer Capital, Chandaria Capital and 7 others
