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Funding is one of the top priorities startups across Africa set, but most have to look to Europe and U.S for venture capital.
A new venture capital wants to change that by tapping into the potential young investors on the continent have.
Future Africa Collective is a VC initiative a Nigerian investor and startup founder believes will help interested youth on the continent to back tech startups.
According to Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, the venture will democratize funding opportunities and attract more young people into the African tech space. The Collective will work via a model that will see its machinery do the due diligence on startups. It will then avail these investment opportunities to qualified investors who can then proceed to fund the project.
Let Funding be from ‘home’
While the VC targets investors on the continent, a majority of current sign-ups are based in the Diaspora. However, Aboyeji believes more people in Nigeria and other African countries will join in and provide “sustainable funding” for startups.
Funding for startups in Africa is predominantly from Silicon Valley-based firms, Europe, or China. Collective wants to open up the space and involve young investors. This group, Aboyeji says, values the startup space as opposed to big-money individuals that favor traditional investment opportunities.
On Twitter, the Collective confirmed that eight investors had contributed $100,000 in its first deal. It also received more than 400 applications from prospective investors since its launch.
Aboyeji is a co-founder of Andela and local payments firm Flutterwave. He also invested in the seed round of 54gene, which recently raised $15 million in its Series A funding round.
