PinnedMember-onlyStartup Founders & Angels 1:1To start and sustain a successful startup in Africa, like any other place, Startup Founders require a compelling vision that will drive execution of all the activities required to bring that vision to life as a successful startup venture. The life of the founders startup venture is therefore measured by…Startup6 min readStartup6 min read
PinnedThe POEM FrameworkThe POEM Framework® To start and sustain a successful innovation business like any other, an entrepreneur requires a compelling Vision that will drive execution of all the activities required to bring the vision to life as a successful startup venture. The life of that venture is measured by progress towards…Startup7 min readStartup7 min read
May 22When Cash is Not Always King— Building Startups in Africa I have had the privilege of working with quite a number of startup founders, angel investors and innovators across the African continent over the last two decades. These experiences have led to my view that while cash is a critically necessary resource for building startups, there are non-cash resources that…African Startup7 min readAfrican Startup7 min read
May 8Member-onlyQ&A: 10th Anniversary of the African Early Stage Investment Summit (AESIS) December 2023How AESIS came about and where it’s going… — The Africa Early Stage Investor Summit (AESIS) can be traced back to the Africa Angel Investor Summit (AAIS), which was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013 and 2014. AAIS was created in recognition of the need for a platform to connect early-stage startups with angel investors and other sources of…22 min read22 min read
Mar 3Member-onlyGetting Started on your Startup Journey…Problem validation is a crucial step in your startup journey, as it helps you as a founder ensure that your solution is solving a real problem for your target customers. Here are some steps that you can take to do problem validation for your startup’s solution: Define the problem: The…Startup4 min readStartup4 min read
Dec 1, 2022Member-onlyBig Cabal Media — roller-coaster beginning!In angel investing, we learn as much as the entrepreneurs we invest in. When we do it right, we even learn more. This story, is about how the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) invested in Big Cabal Media (BCM) which became an invaluable learning experience for all involved. Author Tomi Davies, Lead…Startups Africa12 min readStartups Africa12 min read
Mar 9, 2022Member-onlyAfrica’s Fintech Soonicorns…Businesses across the world have felt Covid-19’s impact, but it is financial technology, popularly called fintech, that has reaped its rewards. The rapid acceleration towards digital solutions in payments, can be directly attributed to this pandemic’s legacy and how fintech companies are innovating today’s banks, with new ways for customers…Fintech9 min readFintech9 min read
Apr 12, 2021Member-onlyPOEM ECONOMICSPOEM Framework Economics are the measures of the startups’ use of available capital for funding expenses that generate impact… How does the startup team plan for the future when there is no certainty in what that future will look like? What methods and tools does it use for cash flow…Startup5 min readStartup5 min read
Jan 17, 2020Member-only2020: What Next?At the start of each new year, I take a moment to reflect on the past twelve months and share some of my thoughts in writing. 2019 was particularly notable given the dramatic increase in access to early stage funding across the continent. In 2017, I commented on how African…África7 min readÁfrica7 min read
Jun 22, 2019Member-onlyMomentum for the African Angel?According to Quartz, African startups raised a record $725.6 million across 458 deals in 2018. While the exact proportion that came from Angel investors is unclear, it’s still particularly impressive considering early stage investment is relatively new on the continent and as our research with the World Bank last year…Africa6 min readAfrica6 min read
