# DFS

> DFS is a research-led venture firm backing pre-seed and seed founders building the intelligent infrastructure behind Africa’s productive economy. Founded in 2016 as DFS Lab, it combines early-stage capital, hands-on founder support, and field research, with a portfolio of more than 50 founding teams across more than 10 African countries and a current thesis spanning money, work, land, and energy.

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** Lagos, Nairobi, San Francisco and Paris
- **Founders:** Stephen Deng (Co-Founder and General Partner), Jake Kendall (Co-Founder and General Partner)
- **Team size:** 2-10 core employees on the current LinkedIn company profile; 21 associated employees are discoverable there
- **Products:** Early-stage venture investing, DFS Lab research and advisory, Founder and ecosystem programs, DFS Lab Stellar Africa Fund I
- **Notable:** Backed more than 50 founding teams across more than 10 African countries., Invested early in NALA and supported the company from a 2016 Tanzania bootcamp through its later global remittance and payment-infrastructure expansion., Built a portfolio spanning fintech, commerce, AI, crypto and critical infrastructure.

## Products & services

- **Early-stage venture investing** — Pre-seed and seed capital plus hands-on support for African technology founders; the public portfolio lists more than 50 founding teams across more than 10 countries.
- **DFS Lab research and advisory** — Primary research, market analysis and advisory work on digital payments, commerce, financial inclusion, AI adoption and the digital economy for public, philanthropic and private-sector clients.
- **Founder and ecosystem programs** — Design sprints, bootcamps and product support programs, including repeated collaborations with Mojaloop Foundation and Stellar Development Foundation.
- **DFS Lab Stellar Africa Fund I** — A fund launched in 2023 for pre-seed and seed African teams using or integrating Stellar, with initial investments announced at up to $100,000 and follow-on capacity.

## Achievements

- Backed more than 50 founding teams across more than 10 African countries.
- Invested early in NALA and supported the company from a 2016 Tanzania bootcamp through its later global remittance and payment-infrastructure expansion.
- Built a portfolio spanning fintech, commerce, AI, crypto and critical infrastructure.
- Ran repeated payment and blockchain bootcamps with Mojaloop Foundation and Stellar Development Foundation.
- Received a $1.5 million Gates Foundation grant in 2024 for cross-country merchant-payment research.
- Launched the Africa AI Atlas project with 800+ startups across 22+ countries in scope.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — The DFS website highlighted TurnStay crossing R1 billion in payments processed for African travel businesses.
- **2026-06** — The portfolio added Chip Mango, an AI-powered semiconductor education and tooling company for African chip-design talent.
- **2026-05** — Portfolio company Checker announced an $8 million seed round for stablecoin payments, embedded lending and AI treasury workflows.
- **2026-04** — DFS published first-wave Merchant Payments Observatory findings for Ethiopia and Nigeria.
- **2026-03** — Stephen Deng published an investment essay on Terra Industries and AI-enabled physical infrastructure.
- **2025-09** — DFS Lab published the Inclusive Digital Economy Index toolkit, survey instrument and supporting reports.

## Links

- Website: https://www.dfs.vc/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dfsventures
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/dfsventures
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedfslab

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dfs
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-17