The co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, has officially announced an early-stage investment fund that will back up to 20 founders with up to US$50,000 of capital each year.
Following its earlier Future Africa fund, this early-stage fund will invest up to US$50,000 into 20 startups annually and has already kick start this initiative by investing in 15 startups such as Fibre, 54gene, MdaaS Global and Max.ng.
Aboyeji disclosed that “it would also provide startups with access to a network of talent and early customers, which he said could make the difference between success and failure for many startups.”
“We’re really excited to partner with passionate founders who are creating brilliant solutions to different problems besetting the continent,” he said.
Aboyeji further stressed that there was not enough capital for mission-driven founders building socially impactful businesses in Africa, with the main gap being early-stage angels backing unproven innovators solving real problems.
The Future Africa Fund looks to effectively fill that gap, and to help lead the team in a new direction an additional co-founder, Chuba Ezekwesili, has been drafted to the team.
To effectively carry out this task, two areas which are coaching, and community have been earmarked and targeted.
On the coaching angle, Aboyeji disclosed that there are many questions that the average entrepreneurship course or article skips in the African context and with that in mind, the Future Africa Venture School (FAVS) will work with an experienced faculty of founders, investors, and operators from across Africa and around the world to impart practical wisdom on various issues through articles, webinars, videos, and podcasts.
“We will also host public and private virtual office hours where founders will be provided the much-needed help to navigate the many complex scenarios that arise while building a high growth startup in Africa in real-time,” Aboyeji stressed.
Aboyeji further revealed that “When we started Future Africa, our goal was to build a community in deep conversation about Africa’s future and while our goal has changed, we haven’t lost sight of the fact that it takes a village to build an African future.
When we started, we thought the only way to build this community was online through our newsletters, websites, social media and Slack. However, our biggest revelation is that the old magic of bringing people together in the flesh never fails and its magic still works perfectly fine.”
“The conversation and connections that have built our community thus far, have been forged in person at our Future Africa Venture Entrepreneur (FAVE) Hangouts. Building on this, we will be taking FAVE Hangouts with us as we travel the world to bring together communities of innovators who like us committed to building an African Future.” Aboyeji concluded.
Featured Image: techgistafrica
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