Over 75 impact-driven African startups have crowdfunded more than €175,000 from the Cheetah Fund and 1%Club as seed funding to kickstart their projects and impact the societies they come from.
Led by Raphael from Cameroon who crowdfunded €4,000 locally to setup a computer school where girls can learn how to code and Charles Muchemi of Kenya’s Cladlight who raised €9,500 euro to produce a smart motor jacket using wearable technology to increase the visibility of motorcyclists and saving lives, the 75 were part of the 100 pioneers trained by 1%Club in the basics of crowdfunding.
The two were among those hwo managed to raise 30% of their target amount via 1%Club within 30 days, and the Cheetah Fund granted them the remaining amount. The Cheetah Fund from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery of €400,000 supported African pioneers with the remaining matching seed money to kick-start or boost their projects.
In a statement to TechMoran, Bart Lacroix, Director 1%Club said: “The new generation of African pioneers will no longer wait until the money floats to them. This Cheetah generation has innovative ideas and are enthusiastic and driven to kick-start their projects themselves. They want to show that they themselves can build their own country. The future of impact funding will move away from the classic top-down investments to more and more bottom up local crowdfunding matched by larger impact funds.”
