VC4Africa is pleased to announce the Top 14 entrepreneurs selected for VC4Africa’s June 2013 Cohort! The selected entrepreneurs will receive, among other things, targeted coaching and introductions to the VC4Africa investor network, the largest network of African SME focused investors.
The 14 teams have gone through a rigorous screening process, successfully meeting the requirements as outlined in VC4Africa’s Quick Scan, a document that entrepreneurs in Africa can use to prepare for fundraising. The VC4Africa team would like to congratulate the selected entrepreneurs on their achievement!
VC4Africa connects quality entrepreneurs from across Africa with qualified investors all around the world. Over the next three months the VC4Africa team will be working with the 14 June Cohort selected entrepreneurs to further strengthen their business cases, help them complete their documentation, and facilitate introductions to VC4Africa’s Investor Network.
The selected ventures require investments between USD $10K and USD $1 million. The founder(s) are backed by a quality team and are running established companies: post prototype stage and in many cases already generating revenue. Many have already secured the backing of a lead investor and now seek the additional capital needed to close their round of funding.
To find out more about the selected ventures, visit their VC4Africa venture profile pages (see the links below). Only investors registered on VC4Africa can get access to private documents and all other details of the June Cohort ventures, and express their interest to invest.
Here are the 14 ventures selected in VC4Africa’s June 2013 Cohort! Click on the names and tiles to find out more:
Arusha Women Entrepreneur – TZ – David Elias – raising US$ 10,000
Arusha Women Entrepreneur is a social enterprise operating in the Tanzanian cities of Arusha and Dar Es Salaam. The enterprise is focused on processing natural peanut butter under the brand Mr. Peanut Butter. See their VC4Africa profile >>
Basic Water Needs – Ethiopia – Jens Groot – raising US$ 100,000
Basic Water Needs is recognized for its impact in the field of clean and safe drinking water for the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). The company has provided over 1 million people with clean and safe drinking water in over 30 countries, holds a network of more than 100 agents and its customers include Jica, Red Cross, USAID, Water Aid and Unicef. See their VC4Africa profile >>
Chamapesa (Dinero Savings System) – Kenya – Ken Griffith – raising US$ 360,000
Dinero Social Savings System (Chamapesa) enables financial inclusion for people at the base of the pyramid. ChamaPesa gives savings clubs (chamas) the tools to issue and manage financial instruments which their members can access from their phones. In Kenya, 300,000 chamas save $4 billion per year. See their VC4Africa profile >>
DUMA Works – Kenya – Arielle Sandor – raising US$ 250,000
DUMA Works is an SMS-based recruiting service that connects employers with the top qualified job seekers in the DUMA network. We match based on skill, geographic location, past employer reviews, and social network. See their VC4Africa profile >>
EatOut – Kenya – Elaine Dang – raising US$800,000
EatOut is East Africa’s largest online restaurant guide and booking service. We are committed to promoting Africa’s dining and food culture. See their VC4Africa profile >>
GMobile – Kenya – Peter M. Maina – raising US$ 1,000,000
GMobile will bring very low calling rates to African Diaspora, especially in North America and Western Europe who pay a lot on calls to families and business partners in their respective home countries. GMobile provides VoIP on Mobile phones, adding value to data that Kenyans are buying from 3G/4G and WiFi providers. See their VC4Africa profile >>
Karibu Solar Power – Tanzania – Adam Camenzuli – raising US$ 150,000
KARIBU Solar Power is an innovative solar social enterprise that makes high quality solar power affordable, producing a modular solar lamp and more. See their VC4Africa profile >>
M-changa – Kenya – David Mark – raising US$ 170,000
M-Changa is bringing mobile fundraising to the developing world. Funds flow from East Africans via mobile money, as well as PayPal payments from Africa’s worldwide diaspora. With M-changa already thousands of Kenyans have used the power of mobile to fundraise for their nearest and dearest causes, including school fees, weddings, funerals, etc. See their VC4Africa profile >>
Mobiflock – South Africa – Vanessa Clark – raising US$ 400,000
Mobiflock makes cell phones safe for children by giving parents the visibility and tools to manage their children’s phone use, and so protect them from harm. See their VC4Africa profile >>
mPawa – Ghana – Maxwell Donkor – raising US$ 280,000
mPawa is a mobile job matching application developed for the blue collar recruitment sector of Africa, taking the power of Web to SMS technology and solving the problems faced by blue collar workers in finding new jobs and their employers locating suitable talents. See their VC4Africa profile >>
OTG Playa LLC – Nigeria – Kevin Simmons – raising US$ 1,000,000
OTGPlaya represents a radically innovative suite of consumer and enterprise technologies posed to revolutionize content acquisition and networking in Africa. See their VC4Africa profile >>
Prowork – Nigeria – Francis Onwumere – raising US$ 1,000,000
Prowork empowers businesses bringing project management and collaboration together on one platform and putting this in the hands of team members via mobile. “It’s like Microsoft’s Sharepoint and Asana but easier to use, and with real time collaboration everywhere on mobile.” See their VC4Africa profile >>
Ruby Cup – Kenya – Maxie Matthiessen – raising US$ 250,000
Ruby Cup is a menstrual cup, an innovative menstrual hygiene product made of 100% medical grade silicone that can be re-used up to 10 years. Ruby Cup is sold in Kenya through strategic retail outlets as well as to NGOs that target underprivileged girls and women. See their VC4Africa profile >>
SleepOut.com – Kenya – Johann Jenson – raising US$ 1,000,000
SleepOut is East Africa’s most comprehensive hotel booking engine featuring 1,000+ options, listing all accommodation from beach huts to house rentals and all-inclusive resorts. SleepOut.com’s unique sms-driven booking process connects both commercial and peer-to-peer hosts with guests and agents. See their VC4Africa profile >>
Considering investing in one of these entrepreneurs?
Accredited investors should register on VC4Africa to get access to full details of the above mentioned ventures. Registered investors are also able to follow hundreds of other ventures gaining traction in over 35 African markets, and network and pool resources with fellow investors. VC4Africa connects qualified investors from around the world with quality entrepreneurs all across Africa. Accredited investors registered as part of the VC4Africa Investor Network are able to see which screened ventures are fundraising, track their progress and review private documents.
VC4Africa’s investor network is the largest network of dedicated SME investors interested in supporting African based ventures. In addition to a growing number of informal investors, the network also includes more established firms. We recently profiled 40 investors part of VC4Africa’s investor network. Entrepreneurs have already raised more than $2 million in funding, and members have secured joint ventures and investments in countries as diverse as Cameroon, South Africa, the United States, Kenya, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Somalia and Zambia.
Over the next weeks and months, VC4Africa will introduce and follow the selected entrepreneurs in a series of articles on the VC4Africa website. Congratulations and good luck to all of the VC4Africa June Cohort entrepreneurs!
