Startup Wise Guys (SWG), an early-stage investor and accelerator based in Tallin, has closed the first €25 million ($26.7M) of a projected €45 million to support the company’s new strategy of making investments in “missed” international markets, ranging from southern Europe to Africa.

“[These are] markets with some unfair limitations in terms of early-stage funding accessibility or lack of specific expertise in the ecosystem, but with high technical talent and eagerness to ‘catch up’ with the rest of the world,” says Cristobal Alonso, global CEO of SWG.

How The Investor Will Invest The New Fund

The new capital will be split across five funds with various regional or industry coverage; one fund, for instance, will be devoted solely to Africa, while another will concentrate on the top startups in SWG’s current portfolio.

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For the next few years, SWG plans to support at least 200 companies from across Europe and Africa. In Europe, it will concentrate on Spain and Italy. It will also step up its efforts outside of the continent, in Africa and South America. It will try to expand its investment and expansion in the countries it considers “underfunded.”

The company specialises in B2B businesses in the fields of SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, and sustainability. According to Alonso, the fund is planning to invest in new verticals later this year and is becoming more and more interested in industry 4.0 (the introduction of cloud-based and AI-powered technologies to manufacturing).

Depending on the fund, it will invest between €65k and €100k, with the potential for follow-on investments of up to €300k.

A Look At What SWG Does

SWG was established in 2012 and has since made investments in over 350 early-stage firms with founders from over 60 different nations. It completed 120 early-stage investments in 2022, and by the end of January 2023, it had already funded 12 firms.

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The company’s first overseas locations were established in Lithuania and Latvia in 2019, and historically the majority of its investments have been made in the Baltic States and larger central and eastern Europe, including Turkey and Ukraine.

Nonetheless, SWG has recently become increasingly active in pursuing businesses from beyond the region; in 2022, Italy accounted for the majority of the startups it supported, followed by Ukraine, Estonia, Turkey, and Kenya.

Moreover, new offices have been established in Milan, Italy, Malaga, Spain, and Bilbao, Spain. Also, it has been conducting an online programme for Africa, and it is currently aiming to increase its physical presence there.

The majority of SWG’s funding comes from startup founders and business owners, but recently it has also come from angel investors, venture capitalists, family offices, and fund of funds. 

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Founders from startups like Lithuania’s Vinted, Estonia’s Nortal, Britain’s Fractory, and Estonia’s Stebby, as well as Uniqa Ventures, the venture arm of the Austrian insurance group, Multiple Capital Germany-based fund of funds, and Uniqa Presto Ventures, a Czech VC, have participated in this round (the latter two are SWG portfolio companies).

Startup Wise Guys Africa

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

Wise Guys, one of Europe’s B2B startup accelerator and fund Startup has expanded its programmes to Africa with a launch in Namibia, and plans for a number of additional programmes across the continent in the coming years. Wise Guys was launched in 2012, to run acceleration programmes for early-stage B2B SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity and sustainability startups, has made more than 220 investments, and already has two major exits.

It is now expanding to Africa, and has a programme currently underway in Namibia, organised in partnership with StartUp Namibia and Key2Investors. The Namibian accelerator is a three-month-long programme which concludes in June and is currently supporting 24 local startup founders, with an emphasis on raising investment and the fundamentals of leading a venture-backed business.

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Startup Wise Guys says it plans to launch an additional four programmes on the continent by 2022, with a particular focus on East and West Africa.

“The pandemic forced us to go digital with our programmes and we saw an incredible number of African startups interested in joining our programmes remotely. Africa had been on our radar for some time, but distance and logistics made it difficult. Alongside our partners, we are now able to offer on-the-ground startup acceleration, supported and led through digital platforms. Our focus is on African countries where our capacity-building expertise for early stage startups will make the biggest impact,” said Cristobal Alonso, global chief executive officer (CEO) at Startup Wise Guys.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Startup Wise Guys, one of Europe’s most well-known B2B startup accelerators, has started its first program in Africa. Startup Namibia and Key2Investors together organized the program, which is now in operation in Namibia. According to sources, Startup Wise Guys aims to expand its African operations to four more programs by 2022, with a particular focus on East and West Africa.

“The pandemic forced us to go digital with our programmes and we saw an incredible number of African startups interested in joining our programs remotely. Africa had been on our radar for some time, but distance and logistics made it difficult. Alongside our partners, we are now able to offer on-the-ground startup acceleration, supported and led through digital platforms. Our focus is on African countries where our capacity-building expertise for early-stage startups will make the biggest impact,” Cristobal Alonso, Global CEO of Startup Wise Guys, said about the company’s new programs in Africa.

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Here Is What You Need To Know

• As Nambia’s first experience with an international startup accelerator, the accelerator intends to boost entrepreneurship in the African country. The initiative was originally established in Namibia, according to Kirstin Wiedow, GFA Team Leader of StartUp Namibia.

• The accelerator program is now helping 24 local and selected company entrepreneurs over the course of three months. The accelerator focuses heavily on acquiring capital and learning the foundations of running a venture-backed company.

• Furthermore, the accelerator has a team of professionals in fundraising, sales, product development, finance, legal, and marketing. These professionals will provide vital insight to the selected participants, enabling them to advance their businesses.

“Although Namibia has a small population and market, we have thriving neighbouring markets which make the country a perfect launchpad to iterate ideas and scale into new markets across Africa. We believe that Namibia can offer a unique environment and ecosystem, which is why it is so crucial to build capacity with the support of the likes of Startup Wise Guys,” Alonso said.

• The accelerator’s participants were chosen based on their ability to innovate, market size, growth potential, and capabilities proven in past local programs. The bulk of attendees work in the fields of agritech, legal tech, and fintech.

• Startup Namibia, which was founded in 2020 with the goal of growing the country’s startup environment, has allegedly run many programs since its beginning.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer