Startups in Africa interested in securing between $500,000 to $10,000,000 in funding have been invited to apply to VC4A ’s annual Venture Showcase – Series A, which will take place virtually in October, 2020. 

“We’re looking for 10 innovative, high-growth scale-ups to showcase their solutions to the world. Are you operating in Africa, generating revenue and looking to raise your Series A round in the range of $500K and $10M? This is the opportunity you’ve been looking for!” VC4A announced in a press release. 

Here Is What You Need To Know

Organised through a partnership with technical partner AWS Activate, the Venture Showcase – Series A holds in October, 2020 as part of a virtual gathering of Africa-focused early-stage investors. This edition would be the fourth of the showcase, which has so far enabled Series A deals totaling over US$100 million. 

“In 2017–2019, we selected 60 scale-ups from across the continent as part of 4 showcase programs, resulting in a number of Series A deals totalling over $100M. Building on this success, the ‘VC4A Venture Showcase — Series A’ — in collaboration with AWS Activate — is now a central component of our efforts to support investors connecting with high-quality deal flow. This is an exclusive opportunity to introduce your company at once to everyone who’s anyone in Africa’s early-stage investment space,” the company further stated.

Selected companies will meet online and engage 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.

Applications are welcome from all African countries from the following areas: Agribusiness, Business services, Clean technology and energy, Utilities, Construction and manufacturing, Manufacturing, Creative, media and entertainment, Education, Financial services, Healthcare, ICT, Leisure and travel, Retail and wholesale, Consumer non-durables, Transport and logistics, Water, sanitation and hygiene, Cars, Household appliances, Luxury goods and jewelry

Application for the second track of the showcase, code-named VC4A Venture Showcase — Seed track, dedicated to startups raising seed rounds ranging from US$150,000 to US$750,000 will open in July, 2020. 

Read also: A New $113M Meta Change Capital Fund Launched For African Blockchain Startups

What Are Expected of Startups Applying?

Applying startups must:

• Be for-profit and registered as an independent legal entity;
• Have a product or service available on the market and generate revenue;
• Have a product or service that is clearly innovative and/or a business model that is new, disruptive and designed for scale;
• Have a very strong management team of at least 3 people;
• Have its team based in one or more countries on the African continent;
• At least one of the founders has an African nationality;
• Be seeking Series A investment in the range of $500K — $10M*;
• While there will be exceptions, most likely your startup has already received external investment, structured as either debt or equity, or received grants from donor organizations.

(For those looking to raise their Seed Rounds in between $150K — $750K, they should consider applying to the 2020 VC4A Venture Showcase — Seed track. Applications open in July)

For further details on the criteria for selecting startups, click here. 

Deadline For Application

Application for this edition opens on Jun 16, 2020 and ends on August 14, 2020. 

To apply click here to start. 

About VC4A

Founded in 2007, VC4A is one of the foremost African platforms for startup funding, VC4A (Venture Capital for Africa) The company is a fast growing community of business professionals present in 159 countries dedicated to building game changing companies on the continent. It works closely with the African investment community to refer candidates to its showcase programs, 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.

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.