VC4Africa and the emergence of an African startup culture

VC4Africa was started in 2008 and has since grown into a healthy and thriving network of entrepreneurs and investors. After experimenting with free community management systems, the founders Ben White and Bill Zimmerman decided to build their own platform. This allows the team to better tailor the functionality of the site to match the needs of both African entrepreneurs and investors. As bandwidth opens up on the continent, especially later in 2012, I’m helping the team with some experimental video projects. We’re actually working from the premise that video isn’t needed at all, unless it can add something to the story. Ben White recently gave a presentation which explained very clearly the thinking behind VC4Africa, why it’s needed, how it’s working with collaborative teams across the continent, and what’s been achieved in such a short time so far. I confess to being very impressed by their ability to work WITH entrepreneurs rather than FOR them. This is turning sharing of expertise into a sustainable business model. Enjoy.