Nigerian angel investors aim to make a difference
The founders of the Future Africa Fund have invested more than US$1.5 million in 19 African start-up companies.
CAPE TOWN, May 3 (ANA) – The founders of the Future Africa Fund have invested more than US$1.5 million in 19 African start-up companies.
According to TechCrunch.com, the Future Africa Fund kicked off in 2015 when Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Nadayar Enegesi, co-founders of US-based and African-focused talent company Andela, wrote cheques to African start-ups as angel investors.
“There’s a massive early-stage funding gap for African start-ups. All the data we were looking at pointed to the fact that work needed to be done to bridge that gap,” Aboyeji told TechCrunch.
Future Africa says their mission is to build a future where purpose and prosperity are within everyone’s reach.
Future Africa removes the barriers of investing in start-ups by providing access to vetted and verified start-ups transforming Africa.
Aboyeji told TechCrunch that they simply couldn’t go on the journey alone to bridge the divide, and decided to build Future Africa Collective to democratise access to African start-ups.
They think of themselves as pioneers in this field.
In a three-pronged approach, the fund assists businesses in capital, coaching and community.
According to their website, through capital, they invest in mission-driven start-ups through innovative investment services that include the Future Africa Collective and the Future Africa Fund.
Through coaching, they support their co-investors and founders through their office hours, masterclasses and handbooks.
From the community aspect of the fund, they cultivate a community of co-investors, founders, industry experts, service providers and government regulators/champions dedicated to helping each other succeed.
According to TechCrunch.com, the idea for a syndicate fund would come in the following months as the pandemic disrupted investment activities worldwide.
In the past year, syndicates have been emerging as a key force for investing and for start-ups seeking capital to get going on the continent.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
