The founders will showcase their businesses to investors during the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit on 4-5 November 2021
We’re proud to announce the 16 companies selected for the VC4A (https://VC4A.com) Venture Showcase – Seed & Series A tracks.
The 2021 portfolio companies have been vetted by VC investors through a rigorous referral and selection process and represent the best Seed and Series A investment opportunities on the continent. They demonstrate strong revenues and competitive edge, are well-positioned for regional and international expansion, and are working on important innovations in the healthcare, finance, transport, commerce and education sectors. All companies provide technology-intensive or innovation-based products or services that are currently available in one or more African markets.
The founders will showcase their businesses to investors during the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit on 4-5 November 2021, a signature industry event organized by VC4A and its partner the African Business Angels Network (ABAN). The rounds range between $400K and $20M and interested investors can get their seat at the table through the dedicated AESIS DealRooms organized in the week following the Summit. Since 2017, the Showcase portfolio companies have jointly raised over $160M in venture capital.
Over the next six weeks, the selected startups will participate in a virtual investor readiness program aimed to get them in top fundraising shape for #AESIS2021. The workshops will be led by renowned African investors: Aaron Fu of Catalytic Fund, Aniko Szigetvari of Atlantica Ventures, Gregoire de Padirac of Orange Ventures and Andrea Bohmert of Knife Capital, and will be complemented by office hours with domain experts and high profile guest speaker sessions. The entrepreneurs will also be linked to top VC and angel investors for one-on-one mentorship.
Special thanks to partners
VC4A extends a special thanks to its longstanding and new program partners who greatly strengthen the value offered to participants and make the program unique. Amazon Web Services offers portfolio companies up to $25,000 in credits and technical support through its AWS Activate program. The Showcase Seed track, run in collaboration with ABAN welcomes a new partner, the European Business Angel Network. With EBAN members involved in the selection process and mentorship of the portfolio startups, EBAN and VC4A aim to strengthen the early-stage investment flow from Europe to Africa.
Participating investors
The participation from investment partners has been as strong as ever, with over 200 companies referred for the 2021 Showcase by angel and VC partners. The finalists have been selected from nearly 1000 applicants by a 72-member strong investment committee representing the continent’s leading VC funds such as Plug and Play, Seedstars Ventures, Goodwell Investments, Lofty Inc, Kappafrik, Shell Foundation, 4Di Capital, Kalon Venture Partners, Saviu Ventures, Compass Venture Capital, Kuramo Capital Management, Blue Haven Initiative, Mercy Corps Ventures, AAIC Partners Africa, HAVAIC, Newtown Partners, Accion, FINCA Ventures, Factor[e], LeapFrog Investments, EchoVC, GreenTec Capital Partners, AfricInvest and many more.
