Meet the portfolio for 2018 VC4A Venture Showcase – Series A

We are proud to announce the 8 ventures selected for the 2018 VC4A Venture Showcase – Series A.

These companies represent a new class of investment opportunity coming up across the African continent. The selected ventures have strong revenues, are well positioned for regional and international expansion, and demonstrate important innovations that are disrupting industries like agriculture, healthcare, housing, transportation, and finance.

The entrepreneurs leading these companies will showcase their business in front of investors during the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit in Cape Town, November 11-12, with the aim of raising $250k – $5m in series A capital. All companies provide a technology-intensive or innovation-based product or service that is currently available in one or more African markets.

The 2018 VC4A Venture Showcase – Series A portfolio

Gebeya Inc Ethiopia

Gebeya is a fast and secure online marketplace that connects top African IT experts with businesses seeking to develop new technology solutions.

GoMetro South Africa

 GoMetro allows any business or company to design and implement a managed transport service. The flexible cloud-based technology makes transport planning, tracking, paying and reporting much easier.

Nawah-Scientific Egypt

Nawah-Scientific is the first, private, multidisciplinary research center and platform in Egypt catering for natural and medical sciences.

Shezlong Egypt

Shezlong is an online mental health platform that allows patients to connected with licensed therapists via video call on mobile devices or the web. 

The program

Over the next weeks, the selected start-ups will be linked to the top VC investors as mentors and receive access to the bespoke curriculum before the 1-week residency in Cape Town, South Africa. During the residency, the startups will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from their mentors, peers, and partners, before delivering their pitch on the main stage of the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit. The program offers two days of networking opportunities at the Summit and where entrepreneurs will also engage with interested investors during their deep-dive sessions. Moreover, the participants will pitch to a wider audience of corporates, investors and tech professionals at VC4A partner events AfricaCom and AfricArena.

VC4A worked closely with the Africa investment community to refer candidates to the showcase, involving investors in the screening, selections and interview process. The 8 companies have been selected from over 1000 applicants by our rockstar investor committee:

Gregoire de Padirac
Orange Ventures MEA
Andrea Bohmert
Knife Capital

AJ Okereke
Golden Palm Investments
Kenza Lahlou
Outlierz Ventures
Manuel Koser
Silvertree Internet Holdings
Eline Blaauboer
Africa Tech Ventures
Kola Aina
Ventures Platform
Shudhan Kohli
Grey Elephant Ventures
Sean Nowak
Zephyr Acorn
Danai Musandu
Goodwell Investments
Scott Onder
Mercy Corps Ventures
Nwanne Okafor
Lagos Angel Network
Fabrice Boulle
Compass Venture Capital
Thomas Festerling
GreenTec Capital Partners

If you are interested in attending the 2018 VC4A Venture Showcase – Series A as an investor or corporate partner, register your tickets on www.AfricaInvestorSummit.com or get in touch with us at team [at] africainvestorsummit.com.

About Africa Early Stage Investor Summit #AESIS2018

Africa’s early stage investor community convenes on November 11th and 12th for the 2018
Africa Early Stage Investor Summit. This exclusive investor-only event, hosted at Workshop17 in Cape Town, South Africa, unites key ecosystem stakeholders from across the continent and beyond, to exchange best practices, learn from peers and recent transactions, and to do deals.

Our speakers and guests represent angel networks, impact funds, leading accelerators, corporate venture arms, industry associations, and public sector agencies. Where last year’s edition was the biggest event to date, with over 300 delegates attending and almost all major African angel networks and VC funds represented, the 2018 5th-anniversary event promises to raise the bar even further, featuring renown guests from overseas and kicking off a jam-packed week of startup industry events across Cape Town.

Special Thanks

We are sincerely grateful for the entrepreneurs that applied to the 2018 showcase. It is a privilege to review the applications each year and we are always blown away by the sheer awesomeness of the ventures. There are so many quality companies and management teams deserving of attention and where we hope the showcase helps to put a spotlight on the growing quality of investment opportunities across the continent. And where we are thankful for the investors and partners that support us in this journey, we are convinced our combined efforts help to raise global awareness and attention for the best the continent has to offer.

We look forward to seeing you in Cape Town!