2016 in Rearview and ready to scale in 2017.
I am not the one to tell you that 2016 hasn’t been the best of years but in hindsight we have a lot to be grateful for both on a personal level and professionally as well.
At this time of the year, i usually write a piece on the state of the Africa Angels Landscape but that will be done at a later date.
I chose to stick to the main highlights that we have had as an organisation in our quest to find the right market fit. The growth and optimism shared by our colleagues in this angel investors space shows that things will be very interesting in 2017.
We launched the Africa Business Angel Forum series a bi-annual event. The Africa Business Angel Forum is the premier gathering of the angel capital community in Europe that is exclusively focused on exploring investment opportunities available in Africa. The forum brings together investors and entrepreneurs looking for funding and widening their circles.
Why does this matter? Well the majority of venture capital funds that have been invested in African startups over the past 5 years have come from Europe and US, having a flagship event in these markets plays a crucial role of building more bridges especially in the Angel investing communities who have more experience and aren’t yet engaging with Africa because by virtue Angel investors usually focus on local companies.
Some of the Key topics discussed were:
-The early stage funding landscape in Africa
-The role of the diaspora in investing in African high growth companies
-Creating a global fashion brand
-Corporate venture capital in Africa
-The Media landscape in Africa
-Investing in Ethiopia/East Africa
-The opportunity of cloud computing in Africa and many more.
More photos from the forum here and the outcome has been more than we anticipated. 4/5 companies that pitched at the ABAF in march have already secured funding ranging from $250K-$1.2M.
Key highlights from the forum are here :
This was followed by a few other activities including the release of the African Landscape H1 Review
The Africa Business Angel Forum in September was a great way to start the last quarter of the 2016 and it certainly didn't disappoint.
NewGenAngels Sidecarfund.
We announced the creation of our Sidecarfund
NewGen Investors Dinners series .
We were able to start Running our signature investors dinners in London and eventually also Launched the angel investors dinner series in Nairobi. In 2017 we hope to scale it to 2 more cities.
Speaking Engagements
Supporting the launch of Fashionomics at Lagos Fashion and Design week in Nigeria
Supporting Angel fair Africa in Kenya The event attracted 45 investors, with pitches from 20 curated startups and scale-ups from eight African countries.
African Angel Investor 2016 Survey
We partnered with OngezaFund to carry out an angel investors survey and the results will be available in early 2017. In the meantime this is the last chance to take part in the survey.
Podcast: I joined Tomi Davies on this podcast to discuss the state of angel investing in Africa.
Key dates for 2017
1st February — Ghana focused NewGenInvestment Dinner
25th March — Africa Business Angel Forum
5th September- Africa Business Angel Forum
We will also be announcing dates for Deal Focused Investment dinners both in London and Nairobi.
On behalf of everyone here at NewGenVentureFinance we are grateful for your unwavering support and look forward to an epic 2017.
To get involved as a member please email our Investor Relations team at Info@newgenangels.com
Have a wonderful and profitable 2017.
