NEW FUNDING ADDED RESOURCES AVAILABLE NOW NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Closing Africa's missing middle
The gap
Africa's "missing middle" comprises high-potential businesses that are too large for microfinance but not yet ready for traditional DFI investment. They are solving important problems but often struggle to access the resources they need to grow.
Our approach
We use a blended-finance approach, deploying catalytic, concessional and patient capital to attract private investment, through clear pathways for growing trading income. Our particular focus is diaspora investment—capital motivated by a connection to Africa and the pursuit of both impact and financial returns.
Our Goal
Our work aims to establish diaspora investment as a scalable asset class that helps close the financing gap and enables Africa's most promising businesses to grow.
The platform
FundBridge is our main platform for delivering this support. African businesses and those in the diaspora can use it to explore funding opportunities, apply for our flagship Built to Scale programme, and access practical resources for securing catalytic finance and investment. Diaspora investors can use FundBridge to discover promising African ventures and access resources to support their investment journey.

When Joevas Asare founded ARK with his co-founder in 2019, he had already spent almost a decade working in development finance. With experience across leading institutions and a degree from Oxford, he assumed that raising finance for a promising venture would be relatively straightforward.
ARK was born from a frustration Joevas had repeatedly encountered in his work with development finance institutions: the claim that Africa lacked bankable local ventures. This did not reflect what he saw firsthand. Across the continent, he encountered ambitious businesses solving real problems, creating jobs and developing innovations with the potential to transform markets. Read more...
Closing Africa's missing middle
Sierra Leone
Freetown Waste Transformers: private-sector innovation in Africa's waste economy
Published by ODI Global
Ghana
Mobilising diaspora capital for Ghana's growth
Published with the International Growth Centre
Sierra Leone
Diaspora investment in Sierra Leone: the current landscape and future prospects
Published with the International Growth Centre
ARK in numbers
7
African countries where ARK works
£10m+
In funding mobilised for African businesses
£30m+
In investment mobilised for African businesses
What partners say
Our values
Impact
We prioritise projects that create meaningful economic and social change.
Transparency
We ensure clear, honest, and accountable processes in all funding activities.
Collaboration
We work in an ecosystem of partnerships to drive sustainable change.
Inclusivity
We prioritise serving the underserved and those that face discriminatory barriers to access funding.













