Investor Profile: Helios Investment Partners — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Helios Investment Partners is the largest Africa-focused private investment firm, founded in 2004 by Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye and headquartered in London, with offices in Lagos, Nairobi and Paris. A predominantly African team runs private equity, private credit and climate strategies. Its portfolio companies operate in more than 30 countries across all regions of the continent.

Investment thesis

Helios invests behind African megatrends: population growth, rising consumption, urbanisation and digitisation. Its thesis is that competitive returns and lasting impact come from building profitable, well-governed market leaders. It is certified as a B Corp and describes itself as the largest B Corp certified emerging-market private equity firm globally.

Sectors and stages

Helios is a growth-stage and buyout investor, not a seed fund, and founders should understand that distinction before approaching it. Its private equity platform focuses on four core sectors: consumer non-discretionary goods and services including food, personal care, healthcare and education; digital infrastructure including data centres, fibre networks and telecom towers; financial services and technology including neobanks, insurance and payments infrastructure; and tech-enabled business services including digitisation tools and software. Its climate strategy adds green energy, climate-smart agriculture, green mobility and recycling.

Fund size and cheque size

Helios manages funds totalling more than US$3 billion, and its own site reports more than US$3 billion in capital raised across four fund vintages and a 21-year track record in Africa. Its climate fund, the Helios Climate, Energy Access, and Resilience (CLEAR) Fund, reached a first close of approximately US$200 million from eight anchor institutions, with a target size of US$400 million. Helios has not published a standard cheque size, so its cheque size is not publicly disclosed.

Notable portfolio

Helios led an approximately US$40 million investment in Raya Foods, acquiring a 49 percent stake in the Egyptian frozen fruit and vegetable exporter, which exports to more than 50 countries. It also agreed to acquire a 49 percent stake in Merec Industries, Mozambique's largest flour miller, alongside Invictus Investment, to build a Southern African food platform. In July 2026 Helios listed portfolio company T2S Group on the Casablanca Stock Exchange in an offering of approximately MAD 1.1 billion, valuing the group at roughly US$520 million at listing.

Partners and programmes

Helios is led by co-founders and managing partners Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye, supported by partners including Tavraj Banga and Christopher North as co-heads of climate, and a portfolio operations group that works directly with companies on financial and environmental, social and governance performance. Its investor base spans sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, endowments, foundations, funds of funds, family offices and development finance institutions across the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Helios does not run a startup accelerator or publish a credits package, and it should not be approached as one.

How to apply for funding

Helios does not run an open application portal for startups, and early-stage founders will generally be too small for its growth-stage mandate. The realistic route is through its website at heliosinvestment.com, approaching the firm with an established African business that has revenues, a defensible market position and a clear need for growth capital, operational support or a buyout partner. Seed-stage founders should look to early-stage funds instead, and return when the business has scaled.