Starting a business anywhere in the world is hard but starting a business in Nigeria can prove to be a harder task.
With so many factors, such as lack of basic infrastructure, inadequate funds, unfavourable policies and many more, restricting founders, the chances of succeeding can be said to be low.
One of the major hurdles entrepreneurs on the African continent identifies as a limiting factor in starting and running a successful business, no matter how amazing the idea is, is access to finance.
The good thing is, there are early stage Nigerian investors, willing and ready to support founders solving vital problems and creating a better world, through creative solutions.
Jason Chukwuma Njoku
A British-Nigerian entrepreneur, film magnate and African start-up investor.
He is the Co-founder and CEO of iROKOtv and Co-founder of Spark Capital.
In August 2013, alongside his business partners, Bastian Gotter and Mary Remmy Njoku, Njoku launched a $2 million investment vehicle for Spark Capital.
SPARK provides early-stage funding and support for start-ups with defined and scalable revenue models.
It currently has over 9 start-ups in its portfolio, which includes Hotels NG, Paystack, OgaVenue, Drinks NG, Medsaf and more.
Victor Asemota
He is a technology entrepreneur and investor, who serves as a board member and advisor to leading fintech and investment firms across Africa.
He is an Africa Partner for Alta Global Ventures, the founder of SwiftaCorp and an advisory board member of Assets and Resource Management.
He is a Co-founder of the African Diaspora Mentorship and Investment Network, Victor is committed to the growth and mentorship of the next generation of talents, on the continent.
He volunteers as a global mentor for the Google Launchpad start-up community and the Interaction Design Foundation, where he is the Continent Manager for Africa.
Maya Horgan Famodu
She is a Nigerian-American venture capital investor and Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur.
She founded Ingressive Capital, a $10 Million venture fund, focused on early stage African tech.
Maya started Ingressive Capital as a result of challenges faced, by her friends in getting financial support for their businesses.
She is committed to ensuring brilliant people, wherever they are located, have access to the resources they need, to build wildly scalable businesses.
Some companies in her portfolio include, Paystack, 54gene, InvestBamboo, Vesicash, Oze and more.
Dr. Ola Brown
The Founder of the Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Group.
The Flying Doctors Healthcare Group invests and operates, across the healthcare and wellness value chain in hospital/clinic construction & refurbishment, diagnostics and equipment.
As well as health facility management, pharmaceutical retail, air ambulance services & logistics and consulting/healthcare technology.
Along with two other directors, Dr. Ola runs a leading early stage venture capital firm, Greentree Investment Company, which provides growth capital to some of Africa’s most exciting tech start-up’s
Yele Bademosi
Is a serial entrepreneur and investor. Founder of an early-stage investment platform, Microtraction, plans to invest US$65,000 in start-ups.
“My vision and initial focus for Microtraction has always stayed the same, which is to increase the number of venture bankable start-ups, across the continent and ultimately bridge the pre- seed funding gap that currently exists”, he said in an interview.
Nigeria start-ups like Cowrywise, BuyCoins, Wallet.ng, Allpro and Thank-U-Cash, are portfolios in his company.
Nichole Yembra
She is the Founder and Managing Director of The Chrysalis Company, which houses Chrysalis Capital, a $15 million investment fund for Africa and Diaspora tech investment fund, focused on building strong African institutions.
Companies like Helium health, Flutterwave and Bankly are part of her portfolio.
Kola Aina
He is an engineer, entrepreneur and investor. He is passionate about using technology and innovation to solve problems in the society and ultimately create prosperity.
He is an impact-oriented capitalist and he believes that it is possible to do well and do good, at the same time.
As an angel investor and while leading the early-stage African VC firm, Ventures Platform – he has lead investment in about 28 companies.
These individuals are on a mission, to actively support the next generation of African innovators and every entrepreneur in Africa should know them.
Are there other early stage Nigerian investors you know, let us know in the comment section below
Featured Image: entrepreneurs.ng
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