AfriLabs has partnered African Business Angels Network (ABAN), to launch Catalytic Africa, a co-matching fund designed for African startups, at the AfriLabs annual gathering held recently.
Catalytic Africa is an investment tool that aims to increase the pool of capital available to promising African growth-stage entrepreneurs, support the startup ecosystem, and increase the visibility of impact to institutional funders.
This co-matching investment is designed to fund African startups with innovative digital solutions and measurable impact, increase the investments made by angel investors in African start-ups, present reliable ecosystem data and insights to impact reporting for all stakeholders and ultimately strengthen African angel networks and innovation hubs.
The requirement for startups to access this matching funding is to be a part of the Hubs from AfriLabs and Angel investors from ABAN.
The maximum financing from Catalytic Africa is €60,000 per transaction. If the business angel invests an amount less or equal to €10,000, then the matching fund will double the amount of funding the startup receives from the angel investors. If the business angel invests more than €10,000, then the matching fund will triple the amount of funding the startup receives from the angel investors.
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“We have been working extremely hard to make this come to life and today, we are happy to launch Catalytic Africa, the game changer that will support startups across the continent. This will help hubs within our network attract startups because Catalytic Africa serves as an incentive and has the ability to offer matching funds for their startups. We have designed this matching fund to offer value and sustainability to all stakeholders which also greatly benefits institutional funders and the government in tracking the impact of their funds’ long term. The platform also hosts a range of toolkits that help strengthen the capacity of hubs and angel groups,” Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director, AfriLabs said.
Also commenting, Tomi Davies, president African Business Angels Network (ABAN) said, “We look forward to growing the African business space by helping businesses find the matching funds and access opportunities that will truly impact the continent. We as ABAN aim to position Catalytic Africa as the continent’s leading startup matching fund because ‘Now is the time to invest in Africa.”
“The goal of Catalytic Africa is to support the tech ecosystem and we have made it as simple as possible without compromising on high quality standards. I also use this opportunity to extend our deepest appreciation to Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for trusting us with 1.5M euros to start the Catalytic Africa funds.
“We look forward to encouraging and stimulating nascent angel networks and propel the growth of the African tech ecosystem”, Rebecca Enonchong, Board Chair, AfriLabs said.
This is an open opportunity for African startups, hubs, Angel investors and angel networks to register fully throughout November in anticipation of the launch of matching fund applications in December 2021.
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