Nigerian digital financial platform, Carbon has launched a new $100,000 Pan-African fund targeted at insurance, health and education tech startups on the continent.
The Carbon’s Disrupt fund wants to address the lack of funding and support holding back budding tech entrepreneurs on the continent. As such the fund will be investing up to $10,000 in each of the selected startups in return for 5% equity.
Beyond funding, Carbon will also give startups access to the its API, its growing customer base and innovative technology platform, to get to market faster as well as a space at Carbon’s office.
With this, Carbon expects the initiative to spark more collaboration and further investment that should drive growth across the ecosystem. This will in turn benefit all players, including Carbon itself.
“Common investor wisdom is to stay in your market and dominate. This assumes that you are expanding on your own but we believe that by collaborating and partnering deliberately, Carbon and other tech companies can scale faster and build more enduring platforms. There are many excellent companies across the continent looking for the kind of scale Nigeria offers and we are excited to partner with them to provide the support and financial investment they need.”
Chijioke Dozie, CEO and co-founder, Carbon.
Over 50% of the funding received on the continent last year went to fintech startups, leaving several other sectors with less funding.
But with its Disrupt fund, Carbon hopes to make it easier for entrepreneurs across in other sectors to access the funds and support they need to establish their solutions and achieve their business objectives.
Hence why the fund will be focused on healthtech, edtech and insurtech startups.
With most of the funds coming into the continent from foreign VC’s and organisations, this fund is the latest to join the trend of Nigerian entrepreneurs creating an investment pool for local startups.
Recently, former Andela and Flutterwave founder, Iyin Aboyeji launched his Future Africa Fund to invest $50,000 in 20 startups yearly.
Currently Carbon is now accepting applications from companies with operations in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Egypt. These startups must have a functioning product, post revenue and looking to operate in multiple countries.
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