Startup Africa Fund is ‘Africa’s Kickstarter,’ a crowdsourcing project to help tech innovators in Africa get their projects going, says Kayode Muyibi, the fund’s project director.
Conceptualised in August 2012, the fund will serve as a catalyst to spur larger funds specifically targeted at African technology startups. It targets innovative and disruptive technology startups based in Africa through a pool fund.
Muyibi told HumanIPO Web and mobile entrepreneurs in Africa will be able to apply for funders through Startup Africa Fund’s portal which will be open to the whole world once some regulatory frameworks are finished.
Currently, the firm has ten backers with $1400 pledged and hundreds of applications from startups in Africa. The fund looks at raising $110,000 each month to seedfund one startup to four startups each taking an investment of between of $25,000 to $100,000 and aims at funding 12 startups a year. Backers can pledge a minimum of $100 per month for 5 years.
According to the firm, 1001 slots will be open to interested individuals from August 29 and will close by November 30.
The fund does not give funders gifts or t shirts but equity in all the startups they fund. Other benefits include annual dividends from the allocated profit from them and the interest earned from the bank reserve. Backers can also cash-out your investment after 5 years.
Backers also get access to management decisions, quarterly account audits, voting rights for the executive fund management team and access to a team of entrepreneurs, lawyers and accountants on pro bono.
“Raising Startup Capital has been the biggest hurdle for Technology based African Startups. I believe we can solve that problem by investing in ourselves. Startup Africa Fund plans to provide the framework and the platform to do just that.
“Startup Africa Fund is not a business for us as we would be pledging our funds in it too,” Muyibi said.
A team of trustees will manage the fund.
