Norrsken, a coworking space and investment fund based in Stockholm, is opening a tech fund and entrepreneurship hub in Kigali, Rwanda today. This will be the second market after Stockholm.
Norrsken will offer training to entrepreneurs, capital, advice on how to set up a business and partnerships with other incubators and accelerators.
Norrsken’s Kigali center is located on the former École Belge campus and will begin with seed investments of $25K to $100K for early stage startups in all sectors starting this year, Norrsken CEO Erik Engellau-Nilsson told TechCrunch.
The fund size is still being determined and Norrsken Kigali will extend the fund to larger series-stage investments from $100K to $1 million in the future.
According to Norrsken CEO, Erik Engellau-Nilsson, “We believe entrepreneurs working to solve the greatest challenges should be celebrated as heroes, the rock stars of our time. They are creating jobs and solving problems at the same time. We see great opportunities in Rwanda and Kigali as the natural gateway to the fast-growing markets and entrepreneurs of East and Central Africa.”
“We have to be very humble to the fact that we’ve not done this before and are looking forward to learn from the local ecosystem. We are not only investing in what Kigali is today, but in the future of the entire region.”
Startups that receive Norrsken funding from its Kigali center will receive mentorship and support of the overall Norrsken organization and network. “That includes unicorn founders, leading tech founders, and developers. We also look to expand that network to local accelerators and incubators,” said Engellau-Nilsson.
Norrsken’s Head of African Expansion, Fredrika Wessman, sees great potential in integrating with and strengthening the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region.
“We are in Kigali to listen, learn and build together with local entrepreneurs. Our meetings with entrepreneurs in the region have shown a gap in the ecosystem where startups and businesses working to solve problems in their communities often struggle to find the business support and the investments they need to scale,” says Fredrika Wessman.
Fredika is in the process of hiring a local director for its new Kigali operation.
Norrsken was founded by fintech unicorn Klarna’s founders Niklas Adalberth in 2016 and has one goal: to help entrepreneurs solve the world’s greatest challenges. Adalberth has, to this date, donated €70 million to the foundation. The venture capital arm of the foundation is backed by unicorn founders from gaming giants King and Mojang, international watchmaker Daniel Wellington and Klarna. Norrsken works with over 70 partners in Sweden and globally, such as McKinsey, Nordic Capital and PWC.
The Kigali center is Norrsken’s first launch outside of Sweden and the organization looks to open in 25 markets globally over the next decade.
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