Kenya’s startup ecosystem, the Silicon Savannah, has been in existence for some time now and finally seems to be gathering steam as far as the spawning of new startups and their funding.
The question of how to increase the participation of local capital, particularly through angel investing, has been a thorny one. Due to its nature, most angels may not want to shout about their investments for a variety of reasons. However, if these stories aren’t told, angel investing could remain shrouded in mystery. As such, we endeavoured to tell the stories of startups that have raised capital from angels and angels that have invested in local startups.
The hope is that this will not only inspire more angel investing activity but also shed light on the what and how of angel investing for those that may be curious, by highlighting real-life experiences.
Africa’s Talking
Founded in 2010, the company provides access to telecommunications infrastructure for developers through simplified SMS, USSD, Voice, Airtime and Payments APIs. The startup raised USD 17,000 from whom they considered their angel investors.
MarketForce
Founded in 2018, MarketForce provides a unified digital commerce marketplace to facilitate trade among Africa’s informal merchants and leading consumer brands. They raised USD 350,000 from VBAN and 3 other angel investors to fund their initial operations.
Mookh Africa
Founded in 2013, it is an online marketplace for event tickets and music. Mookh raised USD 450,000 in equity from two local investors in 2017 – a media production company that invested strategically in Mookh and the other an individual angel.
Pezesha
Founded in 2016, Pezesha has created a holistic digital financial infrastructure that is on a mission to be the leading enabler platform and marketplace that connects small and medium-sized businesses to working capital through a collaborative embedded approach with supply chain value partners on one hand, and on the other hand providing optimal capital utilization for Banks, MFIs and other financial institutions. Pezesha raised USD 700,000 from angel investors to fund its initial operations.
Workpay
A payroll, benefits, and compliance software company with embedded finance for local and remote teams in Africa. It helps startups, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), and gig workers manage employee information, payroll, time off and leave, reimburse expense claims, track time and attendance, and performance management. The company also helps organizations hire top talent from across Africa. They received their first round of angel funding (of USD 50,000) from angels in the Pangea Accelerator in 2018.
Taimba
Nairobi based Agri-tech company that is transforming Africa’s agricultural supply chain between rural smallholder farmers and urban traders.
Angel investing in Kenya: Insights from 4 angel investors
“As an angel investor, you win by being able to identify the best opportunities and going in earliest”, that’s how Ciku, a finance and investment professional and investor in Workpay, summarizes angel investing.
“At the very early stages, you are investing more in the entrepreneur than in the business. So you need to know what kind of entrepreneur they are – what’s their character, what’s their track record, have they run a business before, do they know the industry, how agile can they be…?”