VC4A calls on startups to pitch at event and raise up to $5m

Looking to raise a Series-A round of between $250 000 and $5-million for your high-growth startup?

VC4A is looking for 10 innovative high-growth startups to showcase at its Africa Early Stage Investor Summit which will be held on 13 and 14 November in Cape Town.

Applications for the initiative, titled the VC4A Venture Showcase -Series A, close on 31 July.

The VC4A Venture Showcase-Series A is aimed at startups looking to raise $250k to $5m

VC4A says the showcase is an exclusive opportunity to introduce startups to “everyone who is anyone” in Africa’s early-stage investment space.

To be eligible for the showcase, startups must:

• Be registered for-profit legal entities
• Have a revenue generating product or service that is available on the market
• Be based in one or more countries on the continent, with at least one founder who has an African nationality
• Have a strong management team of at least three people
• Be seeking Series-A investments in the range of $250 000 and $5-million
• Already have received external investment structured as either debt or equity, or received grants from donor organisations

VC4A will select the 10 startups for the showcase based on four factors, namely: the commercial value of the company’s products and services, the startup’s growth strategy, its management team and market traction and finally will also consider its financials.

The showcase’s selection process, investor review and interviews will take place from 1 August to 15 September.

The selection committee includes venture capital (VC) companies Orange Digital Ventures Africa, Knife Capital, Accion Venture Lab, Ventures Platform, Silvertree Holdings, Newtown Partners and Goodwell Investments.

Startups selected for the initiative will be announced on 15 September, after which VC investors will set to work with participants on fine tuning their presentations.

On 12 November showcase participants will take part in a pitch practice where they will receive investor feedback.

In addition, startups selected stand to benefit from:

• An all-expenses-paid trip to Cape Town from 10 to 16 November
• A three-minute pitch in front of more than 300 investors at the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit
• Two days of networking with investors, including Speaker Cocktail and Industry Leaders dinner
• A 30-minute deep-dive session with investors in a private room
• Mentorship and pitch training by partner VC investors
• An opportunity to attend and pitch at partner event AfricaCom

The last edition of the showcase saw 30 scale-ups from across the continent pitch at the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit. VC4A says the showcase resulted in Series-A deals totalling over $15-million.

Featured image: Delegates pictured at the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit 2018 held in Cape Town in November last year. (Robert Cable)