Join the leading network of Africa focused investors. As a registered investor you can see which ventures are fundraising on VC4Africa and you have access to special tools:

» See the results from the VC4Africa Quick Scan
» Follow progress of ventures you like
» Access to venture documents
» See who is following and who is investing
» Ability to message any entrepreneur
» Get personal introductions
» Contact the VC4Africa team for support

A few facts about the network:

» We have screened over 1000 applications and more than 400 entrepreneurs have successfully published their venture online.

» The ventures on VC4Africa are early stage and require investments between USD $10K and USD $1 million.

» The primary sectors include mobile, web, energy and health care, amongst [...]

Tags: africa, angel, capital, early, investor, network, risk, seed, stage, tech, VC, venture capital
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On Thursday, 27^th of September 2012, Ghana’s software developers assembled at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT(AITI-KACE) in Accra for the first ever awards ceremony for the apps industry dubbed TopApps Awards 2012.

The awards night was organized by Popout, an advertising company in Accra, and the CEO Maximus Ametorgoh stated the purpose for this event is to:

1. Give software developers the opportunity to showcase their works
2. Advertise the applications and software to interested targets
3. Develop a sense of competition among software developers
4. Create the platform for young developers to exhibit their skills
5. Help initiate innovation and creativity in application development
6. Get young developers’ apps listed in the Ghana Apps Directory and Store

Although this was an inaugural event, attendance was laudable because the auditorium was full. [...]

Tags: award, dropify, ghana, innovation, mobile, recognition, startup, tech, topappsaward, VC, venture, venture capital
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With the establishment of the Small and Medium-Scale Industries Equity Investment Scheme (SMEIS) in 2001, and the liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Nigeria, venture capital activities have rapidly expanded in the country. There is a marked increase in the presence of VC firms in Nigeria. Also firms, with teams often based in London, South Africa or Ghana, looking to invest in the country. We spoke to Adebola Daramola about his recent study and the rise of the Nigerian Venture Capital industry.

What is the aim of the study?

“Prior to my research, we had academic studies focused on Venture capital (VC) in Nigeria as part of the financial system and its contribution to SME development. We had few studies that looked at the policy environment or the [...]

Tags: adlevo, africa, African Venture Capital Association, AVCA, business, capital, Cloud, data, DFI, entrepreneur, Insight, investing, it, mobile, nigeria, report, research, Services, sms, startup, study, tech, technology, VC, venture capital, web
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The recently launched Savannah Fund is specializing in US$25k to US$500k investments in early-stage high growth technology ventures. The fund aims to bridge the seed-stage, angel and venture capital investment gap that currently exists in Africa. VC4Africa spoke with Mbwana Alliy, who started the Savannah Fund together with Erik Hersman and Paul Bragiel.

You’ve described the Savannah Fund as a ‘micro VC.’ Can you explain why you use this description and give us background on how the fund came about?

“We are not a traditional VC in the sense that we have a big fund and have to deploy lots of money. I have written extensively about this on my posts on Afrinnovator, a smaller fund means we are able to focus on smaller seed [...]

Tags: accelerator, africa, angel, community, east africa, entrepreneurship, equity, finance, funding, investment, investments, investor, kenya, mbwana alliy, mobile, nairobi, savannah fund, silicon valley, tech, technology, VC, VC4Africa Updates, venture capital, venture capital for africa
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Recently the Dutch development bank FMO and Oikocredit launched a €10 million fund. The facility will invest predominantly in Central and Southern African countries through rural-based microfinance institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

Both FMO and Oikocredit will put €5 million towards the fund. Microfinance institutions providing financial services to micro and small entrepreneurs will receive 75% of the loans and the remainder will be used for SME funding. Oikocredit, with its vast network of local offices and expertise in rural expertise, will act as fund manager. We had a chance to connect with Barbara Marcussen to find out more.

What is your background and role at Oikocredit?

“I am Barbara Marcussen and I am a Microfinance Manager at Oikocredit responsible for relationships with microfinance [...]

Tags: africa, continent, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, fmo, funding, million, netherlands, OikoCredit, SME, startup, VC, venture capital
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DEMO Africa is the launchpad for emerging technology and trends in Africa and is scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 24-26 October 2012. DEMO Africa will be the latest addition to the DEMO family of conferences and is expected be an iconic event for the continent’s most innovative entrepreneurs.

At DEMO Africa, a hand-selected group of new products will make their public debut to global press, investors, corporate acquirers, strategic partners and buyers. Adobe, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Symantec, Yahoo! and many others have acquired promising DEMO companies that have become household names today. DEMO Africa is a premier platform for the best and brightest companies throughout the continent seeking to launch their products in front of a global audience.

We are pleased to [...]

Tags: africa, african, angel, Cloud, community, conference, continent, DEMO, demo day, early stage, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, event, foundation, History, ideas, innovation, internet, investor, kauffman, kenya, microsoft, mobile, nairobi, nokia, opportunities, pitch, potential, presentation, seed, Services, sms, stage, tech, technology, VC, venture capital, ventures, web
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Closing a deal can be extremely expensive. And how do you know if the terms you are looking at are actually on par with what everyone else is using? It doesn’t help that recently we were contacted by entrepreneurs who had been given some pretty unfavorable term sheets. Thankfully they were not from investors part of the VC4Africa network, but nonetheless.

We were pleased to discover a social repository of contracts, agreements and other legal documents. Because really, why aren’t these freely available to the public, easy to find and customizable? There are many services out there, but often times you don’t know what you are getting and you run the risk you end up with shady templates only after you pay the fees. Meet  Continue reading Docracy is a GitHub for legal documents »

Tags: angel, business, contracts, documents, entrepreneurs, investing, investment, investors, layers, legal, term sheets, terms, VC
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Good ventures solve real problems. One would expect that the reusable silicon menstrual cup is invented as a product for women in the developing world. The opposite is actually true; it started in the Western world as a sustainable alternative for environmentally conscious women. Three Danish girls decided it was time to bring down the price and target women in developing countries with the Ruby Cup. VC4Africa spoke to one of them in Nairobi: Veronica D’Souza (on the right in the picture below).

Please describe the RubyCup, why is it ideal for a country like Kenya?

“Ruby Cup is a healthy, high quality and long-lasting menstrual hygiene product made of 100% medical grade silicone that can be re-used up to 10 years. Ruby [...]

Tags: africa, denmark, entrepreneurship, finance, History, investment, kenya, menstrual cups, nairobi, rubycup, social entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, startup, VC, VC4Africa Updates, venture capital
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The The VC4Africa blog is a great information resource for the community and we are fortunate to have writers like Charles Mensah contribute. See his blog and feel free to contact the VC4Africa team (ben@vc4africa.biz) if you would like to join our growing network of writers.

“Africa is the next and last continent to go through the growth phase of software entrepreneurship and start-ups. There is no more exciting place to be than here!” says Ben White, a co-founder of VC4Africa. For developers seeking to build startups and for investors looking for opportunities, these 5 reasons should urge you to on:

1. Investment Opportunities
The African Venture Capital Association currently constitutes of over 400 investors, and they are looking to invest and help Startups grow. Organisations such as the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, VC4Africa, [...]

Tags: accra, africa, angel, business, capital, early stage, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, equity, ghana, invest, investment, investor, mest, mobile, seed, sms, startups, tech, technology, telecom, VC, venture, venture capital, web
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Last month the Kopo Kopo team moved into their new office to accommodate their growing number of employees. From this space, situated on the second floor of the Bishop Magua building in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, founders Ben Lyon and Dylan Higgins are determined to change the mobile money game in the developing world. “Everything what we do is helping small and medium businesses grow.”

Kopo Kopo has partnered with Kenya’s leading mobile operator Safaricom to connect SMEs to the mobile money network ‘M-Pesa’ (M for mobile, ‘pesa’ is Swahili for money). “Businesses in Kenya are processing a lot of cash payments and there’s a lot of room for leakage, accounting errors and the large cost to [...]

Tags: angel, ben lyon, dylan higgins, History, innovation, investor, kenya, kopokopo, m-pesa, mobile, mobile money, money, nairobi, Services, SMEs, software, startup, tech, technology, VC, venture capital, web
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