Sony Group, one of the world’s leading creative entertainment and technology companies, recently launched a new initiative to support the growth of entertainment businesses in Africa. The Sony Innovation Fund: Africa is a program that will invest 10 million dollars to early-stage startups in the gaming, music, film and content distribution sectors in Africa; including Ghana.
About the Fund
Last year, SVC completed the first close of Sony Innovation Fund 3 to 215 million dollars to support all stages of emerging technology companies. The subsidiary manages all of Sony’s business investment activities through SIF3, Sony Innovation Fund (SIF). Sony Innovation Growth Fund from IGV, a joint venture with Daiwa Capital Holdings. and Sony Innovation Fund: Environment.
There is no set time frame for raising the $10 million or a set number of startups the fund plans to invest in. However, it is expected that ticket sizes for the innovation fund will range from $250,000 to $1 million.
Ghana’s creative industry
Ghana’s entertainment industry has grown steadily over the years, producing talented artists, filmmakers, musicians and content creators who have gained recognition both locally and internationally. Some examples of Ghanaian success stories in the entertainment industry include;
- Sarkodiea rapper and entrepreneur who has won several awards, including the BET Award for Best International Act: Africa in 2012 and 2014.
- Shirley Frimpong-Mansodirector and producer who has directed and produced many acclaimed films including The Perfect Picture, Potomanto and Potato Potahto.
- An African city, a web series created by Nicole Amarteifio that follows the lives of five young women who return to Accra after living abroad. The series has been dubbed Africa’s answer to Sex and the City and has attracted millions of viewers online.
This is where the Sony Innovation Fund: Africa could make a difference. By investing in promising startups and entrepreneurs in the entertainment sector in Ghana, Sony could provide them with:
- Financial support to scale their businesses and reach new customers.
- Technical support to leverage Sony’s entertainment technologies and expertise.
- Strategic support for working with Sony’s entertainment businesses within the Group, such as Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment and PlayStation.
- Networking support to connect with other investors, partners and mentors in the global entertainment ecosystem.
By The Numbers
Sony’s Africa-focused fund will serve as a much-needed boost to the continent’s entertainment tech startups, which have struggled to get steady venture capital over the years.
According Partech Africain 2022, startups received $42 millionrepresenting 0.9% of Africa’s total venture capital investment, despite the huge potential to be unlocked in gaming, music, film and content distribution, critical industry sectors that Sony is particularly involved with.
Areas such as video-on-demand subscriptions in Africa are expected to take a hit 13.7 million in 2027from 4.89 million at the end of 2021, with revenue tripling from $623 million in 2021 to $2 billion in 2027. Netflix is said to have invested €160 million in film content production in Africa since 2016.
There is no time frame yet for capital deployment
General TsuchikawaCEO of Sony Ventures, said that in addition to the fund’s seed and early-stage investment strategy, it will offer follow-on investments to its portfolio companies.
There is no set time frame for raising the $10 million or a set number of startups the fund plans to invest in. However, it is expected that ticket sizes for the innovation fund will range from $250,000 to $1 million.
“We have started due diligence on a few startups, but I can’t share details right now. We plan to start our work with South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, but there is a possibility to expand the scope of the project in the future.“
According to Tsuchikawa, the fund will initially be backed by Sony Ventures’ Europe team. However, the company is currently working to hire a full-time member on the continent who can take over the venture capital sourcing function.
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