BY TOM JACKSON
African startups looking to raise between US$500,000 and US$10 million in funding have been invited to apply for VC4A’s annual Venture Showcase – Series A, which will take place virtually in October.
VC4A usually hosts the annual showcase as part of the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit in Cape Town, but with that event cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic it has gone virtual for 2020.
Held in collaboration with technical partner AWS Activate, the Venture Showcase – Series A will take place in October as part of a virtual gathering of Africa-focused early-stage investors. It will be the fourth edition of the showcase, which has so far facilitated Series A deals totalling over US$100 million.
“The Venture Showcase has established itself as the premier platform for presenting the best companies ready for Series A from across the continent. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need to come together virtually as an industry and to collaborate on deals is more necessary than ever,” said Ben White, founder and director of VC4A.
“Especially now, the world needs to recognise the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship taking up across the continent and the unique opportunity to be part of major success stories.”
VC4A works closely with the African investment community to refer candidates to the showcase, involving investors in both the screening and selections process. Participating investors work with the selected companies to prepare their participation in the showcase, and to ensure the companies are representative of the best investment opportunities coming up from across the continent. The showcase sets the stage for deal-making with Africa’s leading entrepreneurs and investors coming together to scale up the best companies.
Selected companies will digitally convene and engage the leading VC funds, impact investors, accelerators, corporate venture divisions, industry associations, and public sector agencies. The 2019 edition welcomed over 300 investors from prominent VC funds and African angel networks.
The Series A programme – for which applications are open until August 14 – will be followed by a VC4A Venture Showcase – Seed track, dedicated to startups raising seed rounds ranging from US$150,000 to US$750,000. Applications for this second track will open in July.
