US-based Venture Capital firm, Aptive Capital, has invested into three early-stage African startups.
In June 2020, the firm announced that it was taking applications to invest upto US$ 10,000 into eligible startups based in Africa. The investment is part of the firm’s US$ 1 million portfolio fund.
Founders of 500+ startups across Africa applied for this investment in the month applications remained open.
The startups that submitted applications went through a rigorous review process by investment professionals.
The first review filtered down the applicants to 100 startups. The second stage involved due diligence and further documentation. The third stage comprised one-on-one Zoom pitches, after which 10 startups were selected to enter the finals, from which three start-ups were finally selected for early-stage funding.
Aptive Capital’s Managing Partner, Dr. Ben Peter, said, “We had lots of entries from impressive founders across Africa who showed so much enthusiasm and had amazing solutions.
We’ve settled for these three, not because they are the best, but because we believe their visions as impact-led companies directly align with our goals to promote measurable and innovative social causes in Africa.
Our team has kickstarted support for these energetic companies who believe the solutions they are proffering will solve the continent’s most daunting problems. This is what Aptive Capital is committed to doing.”
The firm selected startups based on the following criteria: early-stage business, evidence of impact, founding team, uniqueness of the solution, traction, leverage of technology, further projections and validity of the startup industry.
Applicants were from a variety of sectors including: Digital Storytelling, eLearning, Access to market, Digital payments, Supply Chain management, agriculture, Logistic, eCommerce, Gamification, Big data, Cybersecurity, Crowdsourcing, and eLiteracy.
The selected companies include:
- Skyfire Digital: A digital marketing agency that supports MSME’s in Africa and the US, in order to help them scale and achieve their business ROI objectives.
- Mimi Money: A Bitcoin payments solution that leverages crypto-currencies to revolutionize payments in Uganda.
- Emmnoch Farms: A fish farming solution providing end-to-end along the fishery value chain and connecting rural farmers and bridging the nutrition gap through fish farming.
“Our selection process was quite intense and we’re glad that these ones not only saw it through but also emerged victorious in the end because of their belief in their solution as well as a very lucid business model,” added Dr. Ben Peter.
The selected startups will also receive technical support, mentorship, coaching to intensify the social impact of its portfolio companies.
Aptive Capital says will be calling for more applications again later this year.