We’re proud to announce the 8 finalists for the 2021 VC4A Venture Showcase Seed track.
These companies represent Africa’s best Seed investment opportunities today. All eight have been vetted by VC investors through a rigorous referral and selection process. They demonstrate innovation and competitive edge, are well-positioned for regional and internal expansion and are working on important innovations in the finance, logistics, transport, commerce and education sectors.
The founders will showcase their businesses to investors during the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit on 4-5 November 2021, a signature industry event organized by VC4A and its partner the African Business Angels Network (ABAN). The Seed rounds range between $400K and $8M and interested investors can get their seat at the table through the dedicated AESIS DealRooms organized in the week following the Summit.
The 2021 VC4A Venture Showcase – Seed portfolio:
From a single online platform, Appload helps customers and carriers plan, schedule and track cargo transport throughout Mozambique.
CashBackApp is an app that helps consumers save on their shopping by rewarding them with cash back for buying products promoted by FMCGs on the platform, helping the shopper save up to 15% of their grocery shopping.
FlexPay is a digitized cloud-based platform that makes essential and aspirational products and services affordable to the underserved market by providing flexible pre-payment options to the consumer.
Moja Ride is a platform that facilitates how people get around in African cities through public transport, equipping minibus drivers with the first open payment network for transportation in Africa.
OnePort 365 is a seamless freight management platform that offers end-to-end control of the supply chain for businesses.
Sayna is an innovative edtech and crowdsourcing platform that makes it easy for Africa’s best talents to learn the essential skills in the digital industry and help them get hired.
ShipBlu is a last-mile and fulfillment provider built to address the growing e-commerce delivery and fulfillment needs in Egypt, offering an alternative to the substandard services currently available.
Waya Limited is a financial technology startup company providing digital payment solutions that allows users to make quick money transfers at extremely low rates across Africa.
Venture residency program
Over the next six weeks, the selected startups will participate in a virtual investor readiness program aimed to get them in top fundraising shape for #AESIS2021. The workshops will be led by renowned African investors: Aaron Fu of Catalytic Fund, Aniko Szigetvari of Atlantica Ventures, Gregoire de Padirac of Orange Ventures and Andrea Bohmert of Knife Capital, and will be complemented by office hours with domain experts and high profile guest speaker sessions. The entrepreneurs will also be linked to top VC and angel investors for one-on-one mentorship
Special thanks to partners
VC4A extends a special thanks to its longstanding and new program partners who greatly strengthen the value offered to participants and make the program unique. Amazon Web Services offers portfolio companies up to $25,000 in credits and technical support through its AWS Activate program. The Showcase Seed track, run in collaboration with ABAN welcomes a new partner, the European Business Angel Network. With EBAN members involved in the selection process and mentorship of the portfolio startups, EBAN and VC4A aim to strengthen the early-stage investment flow from Europe to Africa.
Investor participation
The participation from investment partners has been as strong as ever, with over 200 companies referred for the 2021 Showcase by angel and VC partners. The finalists have been selected from nearly 1000 applicants by a 72-member strong investment committee representing the continent’s leading VC funds such as Plug and Play, Seedstars Ventures, Goodwell Investments, Lofty Inc, Kappafrik, Shell Foundation, 4Di Capital, Kalon Venture Partners, Saviu Ventures, Compass Venture Capital, Kuramo Capital Management, Blue Haven Initiative, Mercy Corps Ventures, AAIC Partners Africa, HAVAIC, Newtown Partners, Accion, FINCA Ventures, Factor[e], LeapFrog Investments, EchoVC, GreenTec Capital Partners, AfricInvest and many more.
2021 selection committee
Africa Early Stage Investor Summit #AESIS2021
While this year’s Summit will be virtual and will not have the beautiful backdrop of Cape Town, we do plan to deliver just as high-quality and engaging sessions as in the past years. This year, the virtual event will be complemented by informal get-togethers hosted by AESIS partners in a number of African cities. Stay tuned for updates on the program and the upcoming meetups!
If you are interested in attending the 2021 VC4A Venture Showcase – Series A as an investor or corporate partner, please register via www.AfricaInvestorSummit.com or get in touch with us by email at: team[at]africainvestorsummit.com.
Look forward to seeing you ONLINE in November!