Private Equity fund manager Adlevo Capital Managers and Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment and M&A organization, have made an investment into Rancard Solutions Limited, a provider of cloud based software for mobile content discovery and delivery focused on Africa.

The deal marks Intel Capital’s first investment in West Africa and is the 52nd country Intel Capital has invested in globally.

“Improvements in broadband infrastructure across SubSaharan Africa has created the need for the development of a local content ecosystem between telcos, content and service providers to deliver engaging user experiences on mobile devices. As a global investor, Intel Capital has invested in and built similar ecosystems in emerging nations all over the world,” said Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital and Intel Executive Vice President.

Sodhani added that the experience and network brought by the two funds will help Rancard as it expands into its next phase of growth throughout the African continent.

“Today’s investment will play a vital role in enabling us to expand our footprint across Africa on both a reputational and operational level. We’re delighted that both Adlevo Capital and Intel Capital have agreed to come onboard at a time of such opportunity and are excited about working with such experienced and globally recognized investors,” said Kofi Dadzie, CEO of Rancard.

Rancard has in the last decade established itself as a provider of cloud-based mobile software and services which Africa’s mobile operators are increasingly turning to. The company has developed a cloud-based social recommendations engine called ‘Rendezvous’, which maps connections among mobile users and then uses this mapping of shared interests as a basis for recommending content to consumers.

“Rancard is a perfect example of African entrepreneurs bringing world-class technology solutions to market. The company is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between content owners and mobile operators and is poised to benefit from the growth in mobile data services,”said Yemi Lalude, Managing Partner of Adlevo Capital.

As voice-based average revenue per user declines, mobile operators are increasingly using Rancard’s content discovery platform to profitably increase data revenues by delivering targeted content to their subscribers. Rancard was founded in 2001 by Kofi Dadzie and Ehizogie Binitie.