Kingson Capital, along with AKRO Accelerate, is offering a new opportunity for South African startups. The companies, from 28 August to 29 August 2019, will host an event where 20 pre-selected ‘Proudly South African’ startups will be given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas in order to stand a chance at being selected for a two-week boot camp in the United States. There, the startup owners will have a chance to learn how to redefine their business and sustain their venture.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- Kingson Capital is a South African Venture Capital Company that is said to be committed to providing venture capital for High-Growth Tech and Black-Owned SME’s.
- The company claims it is passionate about clearing financial hurdles for SME’s in order to maintain and sustain their startup momentum.
- Kingson Capital is backed by international investors and corporations who have interests in investing in the South African tech industry. Kingson Capital pairs investment with business support through its investment structure.
- Kingson Capital claims to have invested 400 million Rand in over 60 businesses.
“Although we see a substantial rise in South African startups,’ it is unfortunate that when it comes to them sustaining that startup momentum, many fall by the wayside due to lack of support. For us, it’s all about creating venture ecosystems across the venture investment landscape. In a South African context, we are looking to build on these ecosystems, and from that growth, all players will reap the long-term benefits,” says Gavin Reardon, founder of Kingson.
“This event speaks to what is so desperately needed in South Africa: giving an outlet to startups to be heard and to be taken seriously in early-stage development, by investors. A lot of startups and founders who are the real innovators in our society, get lost between the cracks of life, as they have no idea how to get market access and investment to kickstart and sustain their growth,” said Janine Basel from AKRO.
“We want to see startups that are innovative, backed by hard-working individuals that are committed to their startup. We want startups that are addressing our most pressing challenges, using technology to address this. We believe that the businesses that solve the biggest problems will have the biggest chances of scaling and being sustainable. For this reason, our focus is on tech or tech-enabled business” added Basel.
Read Also: Opportunity For African Startups To Be Part of The World Economic Forum on Africa 2019 Startups Programme Holding In South Africa.
Funding Requirements
To be eligible for the funding:
- The startup need to be a South African startup.
- Post revenue with customer traction — both firms do not fund ideation or prototypes.
- The business must fit within the firm’s Investment Mandate.
- The startups must be prepared to offer a minority equity stake in their business
- The startups must have a pitch deck available
How To Apply
Application can be done online at https://www.kingsoncapital.com/contact-new/
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.