Nadya Eka Lestari
TechInAfrica — An angel fund for African startups, Future Africa Fund is investing $50,000 into 20 startups each year to assist them scale and serve Africa’s surging enterprise and consumer markets.
Co-founded by Iyinoluwa Samuel Aboyeji — who is also the co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave, Nadayar Enegesi, Olabinjo Adeniran, and Adenike Sheriff, Future Africa Fund established as an online community in deep conversation about Africa’s future. However, the founders noticed that there was a need for a local fund instead of leaving the future to be built by Chinese venture capital.
“Today, alongside our exciting and bold new visual identity, we are announcing our evolution from being an online community in deep conversation about an African future to a platform for innovators building an African future today. We believe that by partnering with mission-driven innovators turning our continent’s biggest challenges into global business opportunities, we can build a just world where purpose and prosperity are within everyone’s reach,” said Aboyeji on an occasion.
Future Africa Fund plans to empower local innovators passionate about building proven solutions through venture-backed enterprise.
Future Africa Fund will be led by Chuba Ezekwesili and will back up to 20 founders with up to $50,000 of capital every year. Aside from money, Future Africa Fund will also provide founders with access to a huge network of talent, and early customers which could make the difference between success and failure for many startups.
Also, the fund will provide coaching through its Future Africa Venture School (FAVS) which will work with an experienced faculty of founders, investors, and operators from across Africa and around the world to share their practical wisdom on these issues through articles, webinars, videos, and podcasts.
“I have always believed it will fall to young Africans to build our technology-driven future even when it wasn’t a popularly held a point of view. Yet, I cannot deny that particularly in the last year, my faith in an African future driven by a new generation of young innovators was incredibly shaken for obvious reasons,” said Aboyeji.
Source: tech.africa
