VC4Africa is building a leading peer-to-peer network that connects African based entrepreneurs with the resources (network, knowledge and capital) they require to realize their potential. By our definition, every entrepreneur we engage creates value in the areas of people, planet and profit. Problem Statement Innovative early stage ventures with the potential to yield high social and environmental impact - and requiring less than USD $1 million in financing (the 'S' in SME) - are the most difficult segment of the SME pipeline to reach. This is especially true in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Often times early stage ventures have a limited track record and lack the collateral needed to secure debt capital from a local bank. Moreover, local banks and traditional financiers too often do not appreciate the dynamics of the entrepreneur’s specific business and therefore cannot add value beyond financial capital. The cost and complexity of due diligence is one of the limiting factors for those interested and able to invest in this segment. It simply costs too much to find genuine entrepreneurs with a solid business idea and plan—just ask anyone with an SME fund and they’ll tell you how ‘hard it is to find qualified deal flow.’ As a result, most existing SME funds seek larger deals and the highest margin businesses. At the same time, micro-credit is limited in its ability to support high growth businesses beyond small-scale enterprise and leaves entrepreneurs with potential standing on the sideline. This dynamic creates an early stage “vacuum” in which a large number of potentially thriving, innovative companies are either constrained to be micro-enterprises, and hence have a limited impact on economic growth and job creation, or don’t come into existence at all. This tends to shut out promising entrepreneurs in the sub-$1 million financing range indiscriminately, or raises the cost of capital to prohibitively high levels—above the already-high rate of return on capital exhibited by many SMEs—making financing uneconomical. Our Objective VC4Africa exists to fill this vacuum. As the largest network connecting African entrepreneurs, angel investors and early stage VCs, VC4Africa seeks to reduce the barriers to investing in small and growing businesses with high potential to contribute to innovation and economic growth throughout Africa. But we are more than a social network. We seek to leverage our data in meaningful ways to increase access to resources and facilitate successful business and investment connections to African entrepreneurs with currently limited access. VC4Africa develops tools that work to efficiently connect members and, in our community’s drive to fuel innovation, create jobs and bring rapid economic growth to communities throughout the continent.

1. Entrepreneurship
Accelerated

2. THE ENTREPRENEUR
VC4Africa
aspires
to
become
the
preeminent
social
network
for
entrepreneurs
and
investors.

3. VALUE ADDED
Our
mission
is
to
help
our
members
build
game
changing
companies
that
defy
the
missing
middle.

4. DISTRIBUTION FIRM SIZE
By
definiAon
ventures
on
VC4Africa
are
looking
to
scale.

5. ACCESS TO FINANCE
Access
to
capital
is
one
part
of
the
story.
VC4Africa
places
equal
focus
to
the
non-­‐financial
needs
of
its
entrepreneurs.

6. VIRTUAL INCUBATION
VC4Africa
is
a
virtual
incubator,
tracking
the
progress
of
entrepreneurs
&
supporAng
their
growth
&
development
over
Ame.

7. CROWDSOURCING
With
members
in
159
countries
we
tap
into
a
global
network
of
resources.

8. 1: CAPITAL
The
largest
network
of
organizaAons
supporAng
ventures
under
USD
1
million.

9. 2: MENTORSHIP
Any
entrepreneur
can
register
a
mentor
request.
A
global
network
of
experts
is
available
free
of
charge.

10. 3: TOOLS
Self-­‐learning:
Empowering
entrepreneurs
with
access
to
tools,
templates
and
knowledge
resources.

11. 4: EXPOSURE
ConnecAng
entrepreneurs
to
world
class
opportuniAes
–
to
pitch,
gain
exposure
&
meet
partners.

12. 5: NETWORKING
Members
meet
offline
every
day
at
one
of
the
many
VC4Africa
meetups
around
the
world.

13. 1200 VENTURES
VC4Africa
has
screened
more
than
1200
ventures
from
40
African
countries
and
counAng.

14. A FEW FACTS
»
We
have
screened
over
1200
applica5ons
and
more
than
600
entrepreneurs
have
successfully
published
their
venture
online;
»
The
ventures
on
VC4Africa
are
early
stage
and
require
investments
between
USD
$10K
and
USD
$1
million;
»
The
primary
sectors
include
mobile,
web,
energy,
health
care
and
agriculture,
amongst
others;

15. A FEW FACTS (cont)
»
Each
venture
is
scalable,
makes
smart
use
of
technology,
or
is
disrup5ve
in
their
applica5on
of
a
business
model;
»
Thirty
percent
of
the
registered
ventures
have
some
form
of
social
mission
and
could
be
qualified
as
a
social
enterprise;
»
Listed
entrepreneurs
have
access
to
free
online
tools,
mentorship
opportuni5es
and
private
deal
rooms.

16. EXTENDED BITS
A
joint
venture
and
funding
resulted
in
the
launch
of
a
SoWware
TesAng
facility
in
Somaliland.

17. KNELLEN
Local
and
foreign
angel
investors
connected
to
launch
virtual
EgypAan
art
market.

18. SHOP SOKO
AWer
being
selected
for
DEMO
Africa,
Shop
Soko
went
on
to
close
700K
in
funding.

19. AGRO MART
ConnecAng
with
investors
to
launch
the
first
Agro
informaAon
service
and
organic
grocery
store
in
Buea,
Cameroon.

20. MKAZI
Job
search
for
blue
collar
workers
via
mobile
phone.
From
concept
to
Series
A.

21. DORKING DAIRIES
Mentorship
in
markeAng,
investment
in
Cold
Storage,
and
roll
out
of
micro
milk
entrepreneurs
network.

22. JOIN THE MOVEMENT
Join
the
VC4Africa
community
as
we
work
together
to
power
Africa’s
greatest
entrepreneurs!