01 Anansi Ventures

Bridging capital and capability across the African Diaspora.

We invest in and advise early-stage founders building community-rooted, durable businesses — across the Caribbean, Africa, and Diasporan communities in the Americas. Drawing on 20+ years of systems-strategy and ecosystem experience across 40+ countries.

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02 About

A trusted bridge across the African Diaspora.

We see two structural gaps in early-stage Diasporan markets. Capital flowing within and toward Diasporan communities is under-allocated relative to cultural and economic alignment. And in many of these markets, operator support is as scarce as capital. Anansi Ventures exists to address both.

We co-invest alongside experienced regional and diaspora investors, then layer in operator support across digital strategy, workforce design, and diaspora network access — translating two decades of cross-sector experience across philanthropy, technology, and culture into a material edge for the founders we back.

We back founders who treat their businesses as accountable members, partners, and leaders of the communities they serve.

That framework — member, partner, leader — is how we evaluate fit. We look for ventures rooted in their communities, engaged with the systems around them, and committed to driving change beyond commercial KPIs. Systemic issues are long-term, complex, and inclusive. We partner with founders building for change that is community-committed and sustainable.

03 Founders

Two co-founders, one bridge.

Anansi Ventures was built by two innovators who came to investing through decades of ecosystem-building and who share a conviction that capital, relationships, and cultural wisdom together create lasting impact.

Melissa Howell

Co-Founder & General Partner

Melissa Howell is committed to ensuring Anansi Ventures is where founders are seen, supported, and connected to the resources, networks, and operator depth that match the ambition of their work.

Melissa is a systems strategist with 25 years of cross-sector practice and project management spanning philanthropy, technology, workforce development, and culture. She has supported more than 400 institutions and leaders across Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas stewarding multimillion-dollar portfolios and advising the work of leading foundations on systems change. She believes that transformative ventures emerge where rigorous strategy meets cultural intelligence and are led by innovators who are accountable members and partners with the communities they serve.

Melissa brings a rare blend of execution muscle, innovative leadership and systems strategy to venture building. She has built directly with multilateral agencies, along with universities, enterprises, and presidential offices across Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Togo, Ghana, Tanzania, and Côte d'Ivoire, sustaining relationships she now puts in service of founders building between Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas.

Through Anansi Ventures, Melissa works to weave a knowledge and trade network across the African Diaspora by backing founders who build exceptional companies while expanding the pathways through which capital, cultural wisdom, and long-term opportunity move and strengthen underinvested communities that share heritage and sustainable economic destiny.

Kandace Jones

Co-Founder & General Partner

Inspired by Anansi, the revered West African storyteller, strategist, and weaver of connections, Kandace Jones believes that transformative ventures are built through the power of relationships, shared knowledge, and collective opportunity.

With more than two decades of leadership experience spanning entrepreneurship, education, government, and social impact, Kandace has spent her career helping organizations and leaders navigate complexity, unlock potential, and scale meaningful change. She has led multimillion-dollar initiatives, advised executives and founders, built strategic partnerships, and supported the development of systems that create lasting value for communities.

As both an entrepreneur and investor, Kandace brings a unique perspective to venture building. She is particularly passionate about identifying visionary founders, connecting them to the resources they need to thrive, and helping cultivate ecosystems where innovation and prosperity can flourish. Her work is grounded in the belief that capital is most powerful when paired with relationships, cultural wisdom, and a commitment to long-term impact.

Through Anansi Ventures, Kandace works to help weave stronger networks of opportunity across the African Diaspora by supporting founders who are building exceptional companies while creating pathways for economic empowerment, ownership, and generational wealth.

04 Services

Two ways we partner with founders building across the Diaspora.

— I.

Capital

Early-stage investment alongside experienced regional and diaspora co-investors. We back founders centering social impact as a structural part of the business — not a marketing layer.

  • Pre-seed & Seed
  • Series A
  • Bridge rounds
  • Syndicate & co-investment
— II.

Advisory

Operator-led support drawing on 20+ years of cross-sector experience across philanthropy, technology, and culture. Three core offers — scoped tightly so we deliver.

  • Digital strategy & brand
  • Workforce & talent design
  • Diaspora network access
05 Thesis

Anansi Ventures bridges capital and capability across the African Diaspora by backing founders who pair durable, community-rooted business models with sectors where our 20+ years of operator and systems-strategy experience materially improves their odds.

Where we invest

Across the African Diaspora. We back founders rooted in communities that share heritage and economic destiny — and the diaspora bridge is our cross-cutting edge: routing capital, customers, and capability between them.

  • The Caribbean & Latin America Active focus
  • The African continent
  • African American communities
  • Afro-LatinX & Diasporan communities in Europe

Sectors we prioritize

Three priority lenses, each chosen for a specific reason:

Operator value-add

Edtech, digital, creative industries, workforce development.

Diaspora-aligned

Creative industries, food heritage, remittances & fintech.

Regional resilience

Blue economy, agritech, healthtech.

Impact objectives

Four objectives shape every investment we make.

  1. Net positive community well-being Measurable improvement in the lives of community members where our portfolio operates.
  2. Diaspora economic agency Building economic strength for African Diasporan communities through trade, culture, and capital.
  3. Systems-level engagement Founders engaging across business, government, and civil society as accountable members, partners, and leaders.
  4. Diaspora investor ecosystem maturity Growing the pool of confident first-time Diaspora-focused investors through pipeline-sharing and peer support.

What we don't fund

Sharp lines on what falls outside our thesis.

  • Extractive industries — resource depletion, fast fashion, environmentally degradative manufacturing.
  • Predatory finance — payday lending, exploitative microcredit, speculative crypto/web3 plays.
  • Vice and surveillance industries — gambling, adult content, privacy-violating data businesses.
  • AI and data products without articulated ethical or governance frameworks.
  • Tourism or proptech that displaces residents or extracts value from local communities.
  • Exploitative labor models — gig work without paths to dignified livelihoods.
  • Companies without genuine local rootedness in the communities they claim to serve — flag-of-convenience domiciles, no local market, customer, or team.
Stages we engage
  • Pre-seed
  • Seed
  • Series A
  • Bridge
06 Contact

Building something with impact at its core?

We'd like to hear from you. Reach out directly — we read every note.

hello@anansiventures.com
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