Early stage investors will come together in Cairo and Lagos next week to exchange knowledge and share best practices at two ABAN Angel Investor Masterclasses. These two events will conclude the 2016 series of Bootcamps and Masterclasses which has taken us to Nairobi, Cape Town, Douala, Washington, Johannesburg, Lagos, Amsterdam, London and Silicon Valley. All these events are part of a shared effort to connect the network, knowledge and capital needed to support the continued growth of Africa’s innovation sectors and to help maximize the continents entrepreneurial potential.
6 December – Angel Investor Masterclass, Cairo
The Cairo Masterclass, organized in partnership with VC4Africa, will take place at the Cairo Marriott Hotel Zamalek. The Masterclass will be conducted by long-time investor and entrepreneur Balz Roth, with an introduction by local investor Khaled Ismail who recently launched Algebra Ventures, a 50 million dollar fund investing in technology and technology-enabled startups in the MENA region. The 4-hour Masterclass will unpack the entire investment spectrum from deal origination, valuation, due diligence, negotiation, post-investment monitoring and finally, exits. Seating is limited for this event. For more information, visit the event website.
The Cairo Masterclass will precede “STARTUP NOVA”, a highly anticipated networking event organized by Innoventures where graduates of the ‘STARTUP REACTOR’ accelerator program will present themselves to an audience of investors and ecosystem stakeholders. Meet the presenting cohort and read more about the event.
VC4Africa’s Thomas van Halen explains: “At VC4Africa we see an increasing number of business professionals turning angel investor. Looking at the results from our annual Venture Finance in Africa research we can conclude that one of the main reasons for investors to join investor networks is their willingness to learn from experts and share best practices. That’s why we are excited to support the series of Masterclasses in our endeavor to turn angel investment into a sustainable asset class on the African continent.”
10 December – Angel Investor Masterclass, Lagos
The Lagos Masterclass, organized in partnership with Rising Tide Africa, Lagos Angels Network and VC4Africa, will be hosted at The Wheatbaker Lagos. Here, we welcome back EBAN President Candace Johnson and EBAN President Emeritus Brigitte Baumann, who will complement ABAN President Tomi Davies and Rising Tide Africa Lead Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien in directing an extensive early stage investor masterclass. For more information, visit the event website.
Rising Tide Africa Lead Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien speaks about the new initiative: “Rising Tide organizes groups of women angel investors, harnessing their power, network, passion and capital to positively impact and actively create a New Africa. The Global movement originated as 180 women from across 5 continents innovating crossborder angel investing. Rising Tide Africa is part of a global movement to increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class. It has been developed to provide an enriching investment experience; including an investment portfolio in start-ups, an education of the investment process and the development of a global angel community of successful business women across the United States, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.”
Push the ecosystem forward
“We are only scraping the surface of what is possible”, ABAN cofounder and Director General David van Dijk comments, “In the effort to push the ecosystem forward it is critical to increase the number of active investors on both a local and international level. It is important to aggregate and disseminate lessons learned. By raising the profile of angel investing in Africa we effectively lower barriers to participation and create the early infrastructure required to welcome new investors”. He continues. Building a continent of Angel investors. One at a time.