Currently there are 94 projects from 20 African countries posted on the VC4Africa.biz website seeking investment, and new projects continue to be added on a regular basis.

Online craft market finds funding

An online craft market, Market-fleas.com, was the first member company to raise capital through this platform. Within three days of posting his business concept on the website, the South African entrepreneur Rick Harington had lined up an investor to expand his business. Rick writes: “We finally finished our investment round and once again, thank you for the great platform. It really is the best out there, as we found a lot of fraudulent sites on the web claiming to help angel investors and entrepreneurs connect.”

He goes on to explain, “As web entrepreneurs, we found the going tough as a startup and tried a lot of avenues to get initial investment including venture capital firms in South Africa, other online investment platforms and more with absolutely no luck. VC4Africa helped us connect for free to an investor we found within 3 days of being on the site, and created a platform where we could connect easily and without hidden agenda. Thank you VC4Africa, you are the only true investment platform.”

Networking service for small scale farmers

Also, the start-up ‘Next2.Us’ has used VC4Africa.biz to find a strategic partner. Through VC4Africa.biz, they were able to find an SMS provider that wants to represent the Next2.Us network throughout Africa. Next2.Us is a networking service for small scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The service enables farmers to help each other grow and sell more products locally and regionally.

Its founder writes: “Your website has been very helpful to me. I was able to connect to a company that wants to represent Next2.Us geosocial sms network throughout Africa. We have executed a Framework Agreement and are finalizing a relationship with a SMS provider in Kenya.”

VC4Africa.biz was founded in 2008 by Ben White, and currently has members in 153 countries. Members connect virtually through the VC4Africa.biz platform and also at the events of local chapters where entrepreneurs, investors and service providers meet in person in cities throughout Africa, North America and Europe. Its main office is in Amsterdam with secondary office in Buea, Cameroon.