A Decentralised And Crowded Brand Of VC Invades African Startup Funding

Venture capital (VC). It’s like one giant cash-laden vault with a complicated passkey that only startups can crack. In the startup community of today’s world, VC is more or less a synonym for startup funding - albeit there have always been other options, and some newer arguably better ones too.

For the longest time, VC has existed as a turf that is exclusively occupied by large, established institutions backed by huge funds from wealthy private citizens and hedge funds.

Essentially, the typical VC model thrives on raising a sizeable fund from a few high-brow sources, and then backing startups with that fund. But it’s no straightforward matter. This closed-out, open-to-a-select-few VC model has constraints and limitations that, in certain environments (read: Africa), can be quite problematic to both local startups and would-be investors.

But what if VC can be done differently? Apparently, it can. And what if VC didn’t need to be so rigid and exclusive? Actually, it doesn’t.