African startup ecosystem support organisation VC4A has launched its Startup Academy, offering direct access to expertise proven to work for successful entrepreneurs and investors operating across Africa.
VC4A said the VC4A Startup Academy will help founders take their business to the next level by learning about the latest insights, downloading tools and listening to advice from 35 experts active in the emerging African startup ecosystem.
The Academy – which was developed under the umbrella of the ‘Work in Progress’ project funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs – is broken down into three learning courses, each focused on a different life-stage of a starting business.
The first course – “Start your business” – introduces participants to the main issues that come up during the founding stage of a startup. Course two – “Grow your business” – covers what is needed after a startup finds its feet and is ready to scale, while the third – “Finance your business” – discusses different funding concepts and tips on how to raise capital.
Experts featured in the content include the likes of Tomi Davies of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN), Rebecca Enonchong of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), Brett Commaille of AngelHub Ventures, Fatoumata Ba of Jumia, Emeka Afigbo of Facebook and Wim van der Beek of Goodwell Investments.
Also featured are Ndidi Nnoli Edozien of Lagos Business School, Talent2Africa’s Chams Diagne, Tranzact’s Ike Eze, Lexi Novitske of Singularity Investments, MEST’s Aaron Fu, SimplePay’s Simeon Ononobi, the GSMA’s Maxime Bayen, and Andrea Bohmert of Knife Capital, among others.
The content is available free of charge and can be accessed by members registered on VC4A. After each module, participants can test their learning by taking a quiz and unlocking a personalised certificate that can be downloaded.
Graduates from the VC4A Startup Academy gain access to the VC4A Mentorship Marketplace, select startup opportunities and fundraising tools.
Entrepreneurs can sign up here.
