- Carbon to Support Startups With $100,000 Fund
Carbon, Nigerian based financial technology, has introduced $100,000 Pan-African Disrupt Fund to provide capital for startups across the continent.
In a statement released by the company and seen by Investors King, the fintech explained that it is committed to helping startups raise necessary fund for growth.
The fund would invest up to $10,000 (for 5 percent equity) in qualified startups and give access to the company’s API to allow startups leverage on its huge growing data base and innovative technology for growth.
It stated: “Acknowledging that its success is dependent on the growth of the tech ecosystem, Carbon expects the initiative to spark more collaboration and further investment that should drive growth across the ecosystem.
“Carbon is now accepting applications from companies with operations in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Egypt. Startups looking to apply for the fund must have a functioning product, post revenue and looking to operate in multiple countries. The fund has a wide investment mandate but target sectors include insurance, health, education which have not seen as much investment as the fintech space.”
This, Carbon said would help broaden funding to key sectors previously neglected by investors. In 2019, 50 percent of African funding was channelled to fintech but with the Carbon approach other important sectors like health, education etc would have access to funding and support.
Chijioke Dozie, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Carbon, explained that “Common investor wisdom is to stay in your market and dominate. This assumes that you are expanding on your own but we believe that by collaborating and partnering deliberately, Carbon and other tech companies can scale faster and build more enduring platforms.
“There are many excellent companies across the continent looking for the kind of scale Nigeria offers and we are excited to partner with them to provide the support and financial investment they need. We are equally excited to expand beyond Nigeria and Kenya by working with a new generation of innovators across the continent and sharing our experience to tackle common obstacles to growth.”
“The investing environment for early-stage startups has improved in recent years. However, a key issue for most startups that have not been addressed is the cost of customer acquisition. A lot of money is spent on acquiring customers, mainly via social media, when a more collaborative approach among tech companies could be more efficient.