Last Chance for GPCA Deal Awards Submissions; AfricInvest Exits Cote d'Ivoire’s AFG Holding

25 June 2025
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Submission Deadline Approaching:

2025 GPCA Deal Book & Awards

#DealAwards #DealBooks

GPCA Member firms are invited to participate in the 2025 GPCA Deal Awards and GPCA Deal Book. Both initiatives highlight fund managers who have achieved extraordinary investment outcomes in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The GPCA Deal Awards program recognizes investments across five categories:

2025 GPCA Environmental Sustainability Award (an exit is not mandatory)
2025 GPCA Social Impact Award (an exit is not mandatory)
2025 GPCA Better Tech Award (an exit is not mandatory)
2025 GPCA Deal Innovation Award (requires a partial or full exit)
2025 GPCA Deal of the Year Award (requires a partial or full exit)

Member firms can submit one deal for consideration for the Deal Awards, Deal Book or both.

Firms that were featured in the 2024 Deal Book are ineligible to participate in the 2025 Deal Book but are welcome to submit for the Deal Awards.

To request a submission form and submit a deal, please contact Toluwani Adedeji at tadedeji@gpcapital.org. All submission forms must be completed and received by 7 July 2025. Please visit the GPCA website for more information on the GPCA Deal Awards program as well as previous editions of the GPCA Deal Book.

Winners will be chosen by an independent panel of LP judges and announced at a special ceremony as part of GPCA's London programming on 11 and 12 November 2025.

SuperReturn Emerging Markets Recap

15-17 June 2025 | Amsterdam

#IndustryEvents

GPCA’s Managing Director of Research Jeff Schlapinski attended SuperReturn Emerging Markets 2025 in Amsterdam, presenting GPCA’s latest fundraising and LP commitment data and moderating a session on “powering up” in emerging markets featuring AIIM’s Zaahid Ganey and Transition VC’s Raiyaan Shingati. Here are some takeaways from the event:

Geopolitical shifts and macroeconomic uncertainty have created new headwinds for dealmakers across Asia, Latin America, Africa, CEE and the Middle East. Yet investors are still finding opportunities in bridging infrastructure gaps, supporting the digitalization drive and funding the growth of local and regional champions in select market segments like healthcare and agribusiness.
Speakers and GPCA’s data presentation both pointed to the growing role of local investors in private capital across the Middle East, Africa, India and Latin America.
Both LPs and GPs stressed the importance of generating liquidity, including through creative routes like GP-led secondaries, to free up capital to support the next wave of growth across global markets.

For more insights on private capital trends, access GPCA’s Q1 2025 Industry Data & Analysis and interactive Data Room & LP Intelligence platform.

INVESTMENTS

► Skyline, a Brazil-based electricity transmission platform backed by Actis, acquired two sets of transmission lines in Brazil for USD524m. #LatinAmerica

► FlexiLoans, an India-based lending platform for SMEs, raised a INR3.75b (~USD44m) Series C, with participation from British International Investment, as well as follow-on from Nuveen, Maj Invest and others. #Asia

► FIBRAeMX and FEXI agreed to acquire the highway business of Grupo Mexico for BRL7.7b (~USD406m). #LatinAmerica

► Goodwater Capital led a USD25m Series A for Turkey-based mobile gaming studio Bigger Games, with participation from Arcadia Gaming Partners. #CEE

► Plural led a USD8.5m seed round for Sunrise Robotics, a Slovenia-based producer of modular industrial robotics and AI models, with participation from Prototype Capital, Seedcamp and others. #CEE

► Saudi Arabia-based financial infrastructure platform Stitch raised a USD10m seed round from Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures and others. #MiddleEast

► India-based financial management platform PowerUp Money raised a USD7.1m seed round led by Accel, Blume Ventures and Kae Capital, as well as participation from 8i Ventures, DeVC and others. #Asia

EXITS

► Trustbridge Partners and General Atlantic fully exited China-based podcasting platform Ximalaya via a sale to Tencent Music. #Asia

► AfricInvest fully exited Cote d'Ivoire-based banking group AFG Holding. AfricInvest first invested in the company in 2022. #Africa

► Vinci exited Brazil-based restaurant chain Camarada Camarão via a sale to Alife.

#LatinAmerica

► Metier Capital fully exited Master Plastics, a South Africa-based manufacturer of sustainable packaging, via a management-led buyout from Nedbank CIB and Investec Investment Banking. #Africa

► Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners agreed to exit its 25% stake in the San Miguel Bay offshore wind project in Camarines Sur, a province in the Philippines. #Asia