Grace Ashiru
Startup funding, or simply beginning capital, is the capital used by a business owner or startup founder at the start of operations.
There are several ways to get the money, which can then be used for things like salaries, rent, inventory, and advertising. So, you might want to know how or where businesses can get money to start up in Africa
To fund your startup, you can easily ask a bank for a loan. However, it is difficult for them to obtain bank loans.
When deciding whether or not to give a small business owner a loan, banks are known for being picky. They usually want to see a good track record, a good form of collateral, a minimum of one year in business, and a lot of sales.
For founders wishing to finance a startup, there are various alternatives to banks and other traditional lenders. Some programs and organizations can help fund your new business if you know how much money you need and what your long-term business goals are. They just need you to make a good pitch. We’ll talk about three of them here.
The Next Titan
The Next Titan is a good place for founders to look for organizations that help with business or startup funding. The Next Titan is a business reality show that seems to be Nigeria’s version of Mark Burnett’s American show The Apprentice.
In the show, a group of people who want to be business owners live in a mansion and do different business-related tasks. Each week, one housemate is taken out of the competition until a winner is chosen.
The selection process for The Next Titan has three steps. The first is the general audition, where everyone who signed up is brought together for a “pitch event” that lasts one, two, or three days. How many days the pitch event takes will depend on how many people need to try it out.
Each participant must make a case for why their idea or startup is worthy of investment from The Next Titan. These pitches are then delivered to a panel of judges. Successful candidates will be invited to the boot camp.
Those chosen to advance to the final stage of selection for the main reality TV show will be determined during the boot camp.
Following the selection of 16 competitors from Boot Camp, they will proceed to the main house, where the majority of the training/contest will take place.
The winner of season 9 of The Next Titan got the Grand Prize of 20,000,000, and the three runners-up each got 2,500,000, 1,500,000, and 1,000,000.
Heritage Bank and Tingo Mobile are presently The Next Titan’s official sponsors. Visit the official website for The Next Titan for updates.
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has promised $100 million over 10 years to a program that will help find, mentor, train, and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs by 2024.
Those who are chosen will get a start-up loan of $5,000 and have the chance to get more money. But applicants would have had to go through 12 weeks of intense online training with mentors of the highest caliber. They will also be able to use TEF’s network of young companies.
The plan is to add more than $10 billion to the African economy and make at least 1 million new jobs.
The plan is to give Africa more than $10 billion and create at least 1 million new jobs.
Like other groups with similar goals, TEF helps African startups and the ecosystem around them by giving them money through its flagship entrepreneurship program in 54 different countries.
The TEF training program is set up so that business owners can be put into different groups based on their skills and experience. It gives you the information and skills you need to start or grow your business in Africa and be successful, despite the problems you’re sure to face.
In a nutshell, in addition to cash for your firm, you will gain transferable abilities that may be invested in many organizations in which you may later find yourself.
You only need to be a permanent resident of one of the 54 nations in Africa to apply. Your startup must still be in the ideation phase or it cannot be more than five years old. To learn more, click here.
The Anzisha Prize
The Anzisha Prize for Young Entrepreneurs is one of the organizations that support startup funding with a large investment in Africa.
The Anzisha Prize awards around $200,000 in business help and prize money to very young entrepreneurs from all around Africa each year. It is traditionally Africa’s largest honor for her most promising entrepreneurs aged 15 to 22.
Over the past 10 years, the Anzisha Prize has given young people who want to be business leaders much-needed resources and support.
The program keeps track of the business it helps and the progress of the entrepreneur for three years. When a company shows exceptional growth and initiative, it gets free online courses, discounts on cloud services, and cash grants, among other things.
At the end of the second year, the founders of startups will talk about how their businesses have grown and what they have accomplished. They will do this in hopes of getting some of the organization’s total rewards of about $50,000. Find out more here.
