Inside Microsoft $500M Funding Plans For African Startups
Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, plans to invest in 10,000 African startups over the next five years.
Kunle Awosika, managing director of Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office, stated this in a media event yesterday.
The virtual media briefing came after Microsoft hosted a meet-up for start-up founders and entrepreneurs last week through its Africa Transformation Office, which emphasised on the critical role of the founder within the start-up ecosystem.
The Cape Town event looked at the critical role that corporate organisations, venture capital investors, tech accelerators, and incubators can play in advancing start-up innovation and growth throughout the continent.
According to Awosika, Microsoft is already assisting over 1000 start-ups through its transformation office, with the immediate objective of signing up 3 000 enterprises.
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Microsoft has developed industry alliances and collaborations with venture capital investors to provide access to $500 million in prospective funding, allowing African start-ups to swiftly scale.
Last year, the US-based tech giant Google contributed over $860M over five years to promote Africa’s digital transformation. Low-interest loans to small enterprises and equity investments in African start-ups are part of the investment.
An Inside Look At Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office Activity In Africa So Far
Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office was established in 2021 with the goal of promoting investment and enabling growth in the four key development sectors of digital infrastructure, skilling, small and medium-sized businesses, and start-ups.
Microsoft claims that, realising that these lofty objectives cannot be achieved alone, strategic alliances with governments, international organizations, multinational corporations, and African businesses will hasten investments in Africa and boost the export of digital services from the region.
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Since its founding, the Africa Transformation Office has led programmes and formed strategic alliances across the continent to develop digital infrastructure, equip SMEs with digital capabilities, encourage creative start-ups, and train the present and future workforce.
“South Africa iswell-established as one of the top four start-up ecosystems on the continentand is leading the way for successful exits with more than one-third of the acquisitionsacross the African tech space since 2015,” said Lionel Moyal, commercialpartner director at Microsoft South Africa. “Microsoft is committed to nurturing and supporting our proudly South African start-ups through engagements such as today’s meet-up.”
In order to give industry-based start-ups access to markets, technical expertise, and investment options, Microsoft has also formed relationships with accelerators and incubators across Africa, including Grindstone, Greenhouse, FlapMax, and Seedstars.
It mentions that the Africa Transformation Office, in collaboration with three accelerators in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, has also created and supported business and technical acceleration programmes for start-ups.
Through a series of online and in-person interactions, the Africa Transformation Office has interacted with more than 1500 African start-ups. Most recently, the office hosted 10 start-ups at GITEX in Dubai, including Q-Hop and BancX.
Microsoft also noted that it has already formed partnerships with a number of significant venture capitalists, including Banque Misr, Global Venture Capital, and Get Funded Africa. It plans to expand this network over the course of the next five years in order to provide them with more funding so they can expand and spur economic growth.
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In order to give 30 African start-ups access to clients and chances to expand their markets, the company has backed a growth relationship with its South African partner Technvst. Microsoft has collaborated with other South African-based start-ups, such as Finclusion, The Awareness Company, Anisoptera, Omnisient, and WalletDoc, on new growth and market potential.
The Africa Transformation Office established Microsoft’s Founders Hub in Africa in 2021. A variety of resources are accessible through the self-service hub, including go-to-market and business support services as well as tools like Microsoft Azure, GitHub, and Microsoft 365.
This, according to Microsoft, also includes chances for startups to sell to its corporate and enterprise clients. Additionally, it aids start-ups in geo-expansion operations so they can grow by opening up shop in other nations or regions.
“The Founders Hub allows Microsoft to engage with accelerators, incubators and tech hubs across the continent. Our partnerships with key African accelerators provide crucial support to accelerate our South African growth-stage start-ups with their business development and market expansion plans,” says Moyal.
Nearly 150 South African start-ups are among the more than 1000 African start-ups that Microsoft is now assisting through Azure credit, developer tools, mentorship opportunities, and technical help on the Founders Hub.
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“Our goal is to enable start-ups to rapidly scale using investment funding, and by providing access to skilling programmes, access to markets and access to technology, with support from our engineering and product teams for co-innovation opportunities. We believe start-ups can contribute significantly to developing Africa’s digital economy and contribute to the wider economic growth of Africa,” says Awosika.
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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. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh