Startupbootcamp Afritech and the DER.FJ have launched a startup accelerator program in Dakar, collaborating to welcome leading technology companies from all over Africa. This cohort of startups will receive support in critical areas such as fundraising, management, and marketing. While the African continent experiences exponential growth in the field of startups, young companies require investment to grow effectively and meet market demands. More and more investors are turning to Africa, with over 1,200 investors having participated in the various funding rounds for African startups in the first half of 2022. Startupbootcamp Afritech, in collaboration with DER/FJ, aims to provide the maximum opportunity for startups to create the “Factory of champions” in Senegal.
Through an international network of partners, investors, and mentors from different business sectors, Startupbootcamp gives technology startups access to a unique acceleration platform. Carine Vavasseur, Ecosystem Builder, explains that the idea was to build not only a national dynamic with a dedicated program called “Factory of Champions” but also to be able to operate such a startup accelerator program from the four corners of Africa from Dakar. As part of this partnership between Startupbootcamp Afritech and the General Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship for Women and Young People (DER/FJ), three cohorts made up of eleven startups were supported.
This pan-African, multi-company, mentoring-based acceleration program aimed at leading technology companies in Africa enabled young entrepreneurs from different African countries to share their experiences and exchange with actors from the investment, making startups sustainable and attracting more and more capital. Seydina Issa Laye Seck, founder of Limawa, a startup that offers an alternative solution to using fuel to power the compressors of refrigerated trucks, believes that entrepreneurs need more than investment to succeed. “An entrepreneur needs to raise funds, have investors to scale up, but training is essential,” he emphasizes. According to him, even if the search for financing is important, training is essential to enable entrepreneurs to better manage their businesses and succeed in their growth.
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WIC Capital, an investment fund dedicated exclusively to women entrepreneurs in West Africa, aims to support companies that have a significant impact, create jobs, and have strong growth potential. “For us, the type of company in which we invest must be a company that has a significant impact, that creates jobs, and has strong growth potential,” said Evelyne Dioh SIMPA, Executive Director of WIC Cap. The collaboration between Startupbootcamp Afritech and DER/FJ provides a significant opportunity for startups in Africa to receive the training, investment, and support they need to succeed and create a positive impact on the African continent.
Startupbootcamp Afritech Senegal Startupbootcamp Afritech Senegal
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard