2 day Investors Forum yields 3 deals
The 4th Angel Fair Africa that ended on 11th November in Nairobi has already yielded three deal announcements among a host of other deal discussions underway. At last year’s event in Accra over $20M worth of deals were closed with these year’s estimates set to top that.
1. Singularity Investments (a global investment firm that specializes in scaling early stage ventures in Africa and North America) expressed interest to invest in one of the ventures that pitched, and had quality conversations with other potential investee companies at the event,
2. Yossi Hasson of Techstars (a global ecosystem that helps entrepreneurs build great businesses with it’s Africa office in Cape Town) expressed interest to invest in one of the startups subject to negotiations and due diligence,
3. Viktoria Ventures (a local angel network) are also in discussion with FarmDrive for a potential deal soon.
“AFA sets itself apart as an event, which is focused on the getting deals done — dealmakers are matched with entrepreneurs and real problems are discussed by selected panels.,” observed Lexi Novitske, Principal Investment Officer of Singularity Investments.
The event, which attracted 45 selected investors from Africa and the world, saw pitches from 20 curated African startups and scaleups from 8 African countries. The rooftop conference room of the Intercontinental Nairobi was lit with deal conversations ranging from cash investments, to partnerships, mentorship, expansion, sourcing, etc. Beyond the deals closed at the event, Angel Fair Africa connected the local tech ecosystem to a global network of Angel Investors. The returns may yet be far off but it is those networks that will grow the regional tech sector.
During the two day event Heath Arensen of Invested Development said:
“Angel Investor’s provide the essential base in a vibrant startup ecosystem and Angel Fair Africa’s role in convening and strengthening these investors gives me confidence that the next generation of African startups are going to be even more impressive than the already exciting movement we see today”.
Melissa McCoy said “With ConnectMed’s recent move to Kenya from South Africa, Angel Fair Africa allowed us to quickly meet most of the core players in the Kenyan startup ecosystem and efficiently expand our network.”
Angel Fair Africa was a very unique event in that it brought together startups at various stages together with VCs and Angels in an intimate setting.” said Joanna Bichsel of Kasha from Rwanda.
According to Erik Hersman of BRCK, “It’s impressive to see the quality of investors from around Africa, and from overseas, that Angel Fair Africa is able to attract.”
“Angel Fair Africa is the go to group in Africa for investors and entrepreneurs!” observed Mike Miller, an angel investor from LA.
Dave McClure who gave the final keynote observed, “It was terrific to meet the growing community of angels and VCs investing in Africa, as well as some great new African startups. I hope to come back again next year to learn more about new potential Zebra-corns!” — next year the event heads to Abidjan, Ivory Coast for it’s 5th edition.
EDITORS NOTES
About
Angel Fair Africa is an event that brings together accelerators, incubators and emerging businesses from across the African continent and investors to do deals. More @ www.angelfairafrica.com; contact — info@angelfairafrica.com
