Aries Media Ventures Backs Three African MediaTech Startups in New Fund Launch

US-based Aries Media Ventures has launched its first investment fund focused on media-technology startups serving sub-Saharan Africa, making initial investments in three businesses working across creator marketing, event commerce and venue bookings.

The firm announced Aries Media Ventures Fund I in Los Angeles on 20 October 2026. Its first portfolio companies are Nigeria-founded creator-marketing platform Aktivate, event-commerce business HustleSasa and Kenya-focused venue-booking platform Book Mahali.

The fund targets early-stage businesses operating where media, entertainment and commerce intersect. Aries has not disclosed the fund’s total size or the amounts invested in the three companies.

The launch comes as Africa’s creative economy attracts growing interest from entrepreneurs but continues to receive a relatively small share of venture capital compared with sectors such as financial technology.

A Fund Focused on Media Technology

Aries Media Ventures invests at the angel, pre-seed and seed stages. Its strategy centres on technology businesses that can scale across markets, rather than traditional media companies producing films, television programmes or recorded music.

The firm is looking for businesses that use technology to solve commercial problems in the media and entertainment industries. These include helping brands work with creators, enabling event organisers to sell tickets and manage customers, and connecting businesses with venues and equipment.

Founding general partner Alykhan Kaba brings more than a decade of experience in media, entertainment and technology. His career includes roles at Live Nation, Entertainment One and Activision Blizzard. He also serves as vice-president of content strategy for unscripted content at NBCUniversal.

Aries began in 2023 as Aries Media Project, a professional network connecting media startups in emerging markets with investors, advisers and executives in global media centres, including Los Angeles, New York and London. The organisation has since moved from facilitating introductions to investing directly in startups.

Kaba has argued that investors with media expertise do not always understand African markets, while investors familiar with African markets may overlook media businesses. The fund aims to bridge that gap by combining capital with industry relationships and commercial expertise.

Three Startups, Three Business Models

The initial investments show how Aries intends to approach the sector.

Aktivate provides a platform for brands and agencies to manage creator-marketing campaigns. Founded by Akinbola Asalu, the company helps businesses discover creators, coordinate campaigns and manage payments without relying on disconnected spreadsheets and direct messages.

The platform has onboarded more than 50,000 verified creators across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, and has served more than 800 businesses, according to reporting by Launch Base Africa.

Aktivate’s model addresses a growing challenge for brands seeking to work with digital creators across multiple markets: managing relationships, campaign delivery and payments at scale.

HustleSasa, founded by Peng Chen and Michael Denuh in 2021, provides event organisers with tools for ticket sales, payment processing, marketing, attendee check-in and merchandise sales.

The company operates across Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa. It has processed more than 520,000 tickets and served over 4,000 clients, according to Launch Base Africa.

HustleSasa has also expanded beyond ticketing into commerce and financial services for event organisers. Its platform can support the operational requirements of events while giving organisers a central system for managing transactions and attendees.

Book Mahali, founded by Kagwe Mungai, connects people looking for venues with hosts offering spaces for hire. The platform focuses on venue and equipment rentals, serving customers in Kenya’s hospitality and creative sectors.

It manages venue discovery, payments and booking paperwork, reducing the administrative work involved in arranging spaces for events and other activities.

Together, the three businesses address different stages of the commercial process: finding an audience, organising an event and securing the space needed to host it.

Why the Creative Economy Needs More Capital

Africa’s media and entertainment businesses operate in a market with substantial consumer demand, but many technology companies serving the sector struggle to attract investment.

A 2026 industry analysis cited by Dealroom estimated the African creative and media sector at approximately $59 billion, while noting that it receives less than 1% of regional venture capital.

The funding imbalance has been particularly visible in comparison with fintech. In 2022, African startups raised more than $6.5 billion, but digital media ventures captured less than 1% of that funding, while fintech accounted for nearly 40%, according to the same reporting.

The gap creates an opportunity for specialist investors willing to assess businesses that do not fit the conventional technology investment categories.

Aries plans to source investments by identifying founders building solutions for underserved markets and working with established media companies to identify problems that technology startups could solve.

The firm also intends to provide portfolio companies with access to industry expertise and international networks alongside financial backing.

What the Fund Could Mean for African Startups

Aries Media Ventures Fund I adds another source of specialist capital for African founders building businesses around the creative economy. Its focus differs from generalist venture funds because it targets the commercial infrastructure supporting media and entertainment rather than content production alone.

The three initial investments also give Aries exposure to several revenue opportunities, including business subscriptions, ticketing and transaction services, and venue-booking commissions.

However, the fund’s financial scale remains unclear. Without a disclosed fund size or individual investment amounts, it is difficult to assess how many additional companies Aries could back or how much capital it intends to deploy across the region.

For now, its first portfolio offers a clear view of its investment thesis: technology can help African creators, event organisers and venue operators build businesses with more organised systems for reaching customers, managing transactions and generating revenue.