DEMO Africa just announced they’ll be launching their investment arm called DEMO Ventures this coming October to support over 3,000 early-stage African tech startups.
The initiative DEMO Africa runs pitching competitions and connects African startup to the global ecosystem. They aim to raise $100 million to invest in startups from Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria. DEMOAfrica founder Harry Hare confirmed that they’re in talks with private equity firms, pension funds, development finance institutions and high net worth individuals to raise the funds. The amount of investment would be between $25,000 and $5 million.
“Our proprietary deal flow of more than 3,000 early-stage enterprises will form the bulk of our portfolio pipeline. DEMO Africa has helped these startups raise over US$60 million through networks, introductions, and a robust support process, and it is through this track record that we are now formalizing the process,” Hare said.
The new fund raised by DEMO Africa will be managed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tania Ngima, who has over 15 years worth of experience. According to her, the fund will be used to invest in early-stage startups across different fields which include consumer web and mobile, renewable energy, and financial services.
“We are looking for companies that can scale quickly and especially those with the potential to operate across multiple geographies. We have a proprietary pan-African deal pipeline via Demo Africa which is going to constitute 70% to 75% of the portfolio companies that we invest in,” Tani concludes.