Flourish Ventures launches Madica, aims at investing $6 million in African pre-seed startups
Global Venture Capital Firm, Flourish Ventures has set up an investment program Madica to serve mission-driven and under-represented African pre-seed startup founders. The recently launched sector-agnostic program scheduled for a 3-year frame will back 25-30 African entrepreneurs and invest $200, 000 capital in each tech startup while providing mentorship and outstanding company-building support.
Problems including limited access to capital, lack of mentorship, industry networks and structured training are evident in early-stage African founders. Hence, the US-based VC proposed Madica to attract this category of founders and provide solutions that would enhance the funding stamina of the tech ecosystem in Africa.
In the press statement by Flourish Ventures, the investment program “will provide this mentor community with rewards tied to company success. To further cultivate this sense of community, Madica intends to share a part of its financial returns with the broader ecosystem.”
Madica, short form of Made In Africa targets founders in countries aside from the large tech hubs of Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa. It also intends to prioritise companies led by local founders, women, and those focused on frontier sectors to shore up gaps in funding on the continent. This move would combat funding trends that focus on large tech companies and cities, and women.
“Although investment is booming on the continent, funds are often disproportionately targeted at a few well-networked entrepreneurs and skewed towards the more prominent tech hubs,” Head of Madica, Emmanuel Adegboye said.
“Unlike other programs, Madica is sector-agnostic and intends to double down on providing hands-on support, extensive resources, access to networks and more. This is why, in addition to $6M of investment capital, we have reserved an equal amount for programmatic support. We encourage founders across the continent to apply for our program. We believe Africans have an unmatched entrepreneurial spirit, and one of Madica’s core goals is to ensure a level playing field for every African founder,” he added.
The program will work with partners such as incubators, accelerators, and angels to identify and support entrepreneurs. Only start-ups that have a minimum viable product (MVP), committed (full-time) founders and have received little or no institutional funding are eligible for the program. Investments will be made on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Venture Partner at Flourish Ventures, Ameya Upadhyay said that “Madica is an investment in the African venture ecosystem, with the audacious goal of creating a broader systemic shift. Through Madica, we intend to develop a cadre of mentors, create world-class programming, crowd-in follow-on capital and leverage Flourish’s global presence to extend the reach of local networks. These will eventually benefit other participants in the ecosystem – startups, investors, and policymakers.”
“We hope that Madica can help change the narrative around African startups – lower the perception of risk, attract more capital, inspire more founders, and garner more media attention.”
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