Three organisations to seek startup funding from in Africa

The capital a business owner or startup founder uses at the outset of operations is known as startup funding or, simply, beginning capital. The funds can be raised through several methods and then spent on startup necessities including salaries, rent, inventory, and advertising. Therefore you may want to know ways or organisations that undertake startup funding in Africa.

You can easily approach a bank for a loan to fund your startup. But it’s not easy getting them to secure loans from banks. When deciding whether or not to extend a loan to a small business owner, banks are notoriously picky and often require a solid track record, solid collateral form, a minimum of one year in business, and significant sales volume. 

However, there are several alternatives to banks and other conventional lenders for founders looking to finance a new firm. There are initiatives and organisations that can fund your startup if you understand your financial needs and long-term business objectives. They just need you to pitch well. Here, we’ll highlight three of them.

The Next Titan

Any founder looking for organisations that support business or startup funding can try out The Next Titan. The Next Titan is a business reality show that seems like a Nigerian version of the American TV show, The Apprentice, created by Mark Burnett.  

In the show, a group of aspiring business people are lodged in a mansion and required to complete various business-related activities. Housemates are eliminated from the competition weekly until a victor is declared.

There are three stages to the selection process for The Next Titan. The first is the general audition, where all registrants are brought together for a one-, two-, or three-day “pitch event”. The number of days for the pitch event will depend on the number of people that need to be auditioned. 

Each entrant will have to make a case for why an idea or startup deserves funding from The Next Titan. And these pitches are made to a panel of judges. Successful ones will move to the bootcamp. 

Those who are chosen to move on to the final round of the selection process for the main reality TV programme will be determined at the boot camp.

Once 16 participants have been chosen from Boot Camp, they will move on to the main house, where the bulk of the training/contest will take place.

The winner of The Next Titan season 9 walked away with a Grand Prize of ₦20,000,000 while 3 runners up won ₦2,500,000, ₦1,500,000, and ₦1,000,000 respectively.

The official sponsors for The Next Titan currently include Heritage Bank and Tingo Mobile. Get updates on The Next Titan’s official website. 

Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme 

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has pledged US$100 million over 10 years to a programme that is poised to help find, mentor, groom, and finance 10,000 African entrepreneurs by 2024.

Successful applicants will receive US$5,000 in seed funds, in addition to access to further investment. However, applicants would have undergone 12 weeks of intense online training with world-class mentors. They’ll also be able to tap into TEF’s community of young businesses.

The Elumelu family has pledged $100 million through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme to provide training, coaching, and investment to 10,000 African entrepreneurs over 10 years.

The plan is to boost the African economy by more than $10 billion and create at least 1,000,000 new jobs.

Like organisations with similar objectives, TEF strengthens African startups and the ecosystem, by rendering funding support to them in 54 different countries through its flagship entrepreneurship programme.

The TEF training programme is structured to categorise business owners according to their skills and experience. It provides you with the knowledge and skills you need to launch or expand your business in Africa and succeed despite the difficulties you’ll inevitably encounter.

In a nutshell, apart from the funding for your startup, you’ll also get transferable skills that can be invested in different organisations you may eventually find yourself.

To apply, you only need to be a permanent resident of any of Africa’s 54 countries. Your startup must be at an ideation stage or not a business older than 5 years. Read more about it here.

The Anzisha Prize 

One of the organisations that support startup funding with significant funding in Africa is the Anzisha Prize for young entrepreneurs. Around $200,000 in business support and prize money is awarded annually to very young entrepreneurs from all over Africa as part of the Anzisha Prize. It’s typically Africa’s largest award for her youngest entrepreneurs aged 15–22. 

Over the past decade, the Anzisha Prize has provided much-needed resources and advocacy for aspiring young business leaders. 

The programme monitors the business it supports and the entrepreneur’s progress over three years. When a company demonstrates exceptional development and initiative, it is rewarded with a variety of resources, including free online courses, discounted cloud services, and cash grants. 

At the end of the second year, startup founders will present their business progress and achievements in hopes of winning a funding portion of about $50,000 in total rewards from the organisation. Read more here.