Each business will receive funding, up to $200,000, and will also receive 18 months of targeted company-building support tailored to their specific needs.
Madica, an African structured investment program targeting pre-stage entrepreneurs, today announced its first round of investments in three startups.
Each business will receive funding, up to $200,000, and will also receive 18 months of targeted company-building support tailored to their specific needs.
Among the support offered to investee companies is a tailored curriculum, hands-on and executive coaching, and access to Madica’s global investor network for further funding.
The first start-ups to be invested in are:
β’ Kola Market (Ghana), founded by Marie-Reine Seshie, helps SMEs boost sales, optimize inventory and secure financing through a B2B platform.
β’ GoBEBA (Kenya), founded by Lesley Mbogo and Peter Ndiang’ui, offers a direct-to-customer e-commerce platform that streamlines the purchase and delivery of bulk essential utilities.
β’ NewForm Foods (South Africa), founded by Brett Thompson and Tasneem Karodia, enables food producers and retailers to rapidly develop and scale cultured meat products at costs well below industry standards.
Emmanuel Adegboye, head of Madica, said: βEach of these startups represents the untapped potential of African founders who lack the much-needed support because they are too often seen as risky by global investors. This year, our goal is to support more of these founders and integrate them into the global startup ecosystem.
βThe glaring imbalance in venture funding in Africa is a big concern and we want to support founders who are often overlooked by investors. Our goal is to be a catalyst and inspire other investors to join our goal of expanding the reach of venture capital and founder mentoring.β
Focused on addressing structural deficiencies in Africa’s startup ecosystem, Madica is a sector-agnostic investment program affiliated with Flourish Ventures, a global Fintech venture capital firm.
Madica’s open application process means entrepreneurs can apply without an introduction. The program works with local ecosystem participants, such as incubators, accelerators and angel networks, to identify and support entrepreneurs.
This year, the program hopes to invest in up to ten additional startups. Interested founders can learn more and apply on the Madica website.