Today, XSML, the fund manager active in Central Africa, announced its investment in Quickprint SARL. Quickprint is a newly established digital printing shop based in Gombe, Kinshasa, Congo. Quickprint provides digital printing solutions for corporates, NGOs, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and individuals.
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
The printing market in DR Congo consists mainly of offset printing companies and low-end copy shops. Quickprint fills a gap in the market by providing high quality but quick printing jobs with modern finishing. While large volume printing jobs are being provided by printing companies in Congo, smaller volumes of higher quality prints are imported from abroad (South-Africa or Belgium). Printing outside DRC has led to long lead times and higher costs for businesses and consumers.
The Managing Director of Quickprint, Alexandre Jacovides states: “With the financing provided by the Central Africa SME Fund, Quickprint has been able to purchase state-of-the-art printing machines as well as working capital to be able to offer a wide variety of printing solutions from the start of our operations. Quickprint wants to become the leading digital printing company in Congo and welcomes our long term partner XSML whom share our vision and ambition. With our printing machines we are able to provide a quick service for smaller and higher volume printing jobs at a quality level that you normally only find in Europe or South-Africa.”
Marcel Posthuma, Managing Partner at XSML says: “With increasing business activity and competition, we see a growing need for high quality, quick printing jobs. Kinshasa did not yet have a modern digital printing shop where one can walk in and out thirty minutes later carrying a box of high quality printed leaflets or business cards. Quickprint provides a complete service from designing the print job, to printing and finishing that consumers require.”
Quickprint is the twenty first investment made by CASF and its eighteenth investment in DRC. CASF is an investment fund investing in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. The fund is based on the belief that sustainable economic development in the fast growing markets of DRC and CAR can be achieved by encouraging entrepreneurship. Currently, many opportunities in these countries remain unexploited due to the lack of risk capital and support. By stimulating entrepreneurial endeavors jobs and income are created. CASF is a USD 19m fund with 80% allocation to DRC and 20% in CAR. CASF provides risk capital with an investment size ranging from USD 100,000 to a maximum of USD 500,000. Investors in CASF are IFC, FMO and the Lundin Foundation.
About Quickprint SPRL
Quickprint is a digital printing company which started operations in 2014 providing modern printing solutions to corporates, SMEs, individuals and NGOs. Quickprint has opened its first digital printing shop on 50, Avenue Lt. Colonel Lukusa, Gombe Kinshasa.
About XSML
XSML is an independent private equity fund manager, founded in 2008, with a focus on frontier markets. While building and managing funds for these markets, XSML, eXtra Small Medium Large, aims to help grow small businesses into medium and large enterprises. XSML was founded in 2008. The managing partners have an extensive background in emerging markets in the areas of asset management, corporate and development banking and corporate restructuring. Our experience has shown that demand for finance from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) remains largely untapped despite increased interest in frontier markets from international investors. XSML bridges this gap between international investors and SMEs in these markets. XSML is currently fund-raising its second fund: the African Rivers Fund.
