By Josephine Akaerr

VC4A and ABAN have announced the 7th and virtual edition of the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit (#AESIS2020). The Summit will take place between 3 and 4 November online. With a number of record-level deals making the headlines over the last year, Africa’s startup industry is ripe for investment.

VC4A and ABAN are energized to build on that momentum during #AESIS2020. During the two-day virtual Summit, both organizations will come together, interact and collaborate on deals – to invest in a resilient Africa.

Both days will feature insightful keynotes, fireside chats, expert panel discussions, technical sessions and pitches from the most promising companies part of the VC4A Venture Showcases

The first-ever VC4A Venture Showcase – Seed will take place on November 3 and the Series A companies will pitch on November 4

In accordance, the theme of the first day is ‘Seed’, and the second day is ‘Series A’

VC4A and ABAN have made public some of the investors that will be leading the conversations. Rebecca Enonchong will sit down with McKinsey Africa Chairman, Acha Leke, on 3 November to discuss macroeconomic and geopolitical forces that are shaping Africa.

They also will host multiple expert panels, including on ‘The Future Builders: Breaking new ground for Africa’s startup ecosystem’, with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Erick Yong, Ola Brown, Sangu Delle and Zach George.

There is also a ‘Going Global’ panel with reps from Kepple Africa Ventures, Orange Ventures and Dazzle Angels, and one on ‘Building a Resilient Industry’, with Wim van der Beek and Khaled Ismael, among others. Furthermore, there will be 4 interactive technical sessions, including ‘The Fundamentals of Fund Management’ by Eghosa Omoigui, and ‘Remote Due Diligence’ by Aaron Fu and the Catalyst Fund team.

VC4A Venture Showcases – Seed and Series A – in partnership with AWS Activate

For the first time in its history, VC4A is hosting a Venture Showcase for companies seeking seed funding. The VC4A Venture Showcase – Seed will take place on 3 November with opportunities for deep dives with the entrepreneurs. Participants can then watch and engage with the Series A companies on 4 November. Companies in the two portfolios hail from Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia and beyond, and offer services or products in e-commerce, finance, energy, AI, and even satellite propulsion. VC4A’s Venture Showcase companies have gone on to secure more than US$100M in deals.

Co-founder of VC4A, commented: “The Venture Showcase has established itself as the premier platform for presenting the best companies ready for investment from across the continent. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need to come together virtually as an industry and to collaborate on deals is more necessary than ever. Especially now, the world needs to recognize the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship taking up across the continent and the unique opportunity to be part of major success stories.”

Special thanks to our partners

We are pleased to announce that the cloud platform, Amazon Web Services, through its AWS Activate program, joins the VC4A Venture Showcase as a technical partner this year. Next to the AWS Activate partnership, VC4A and ABAN are proud to partner with the Work in Progress Alliance, Naspers Foundry, Wesgro, and the Catalyst Fund to bring the Summit to the early-stage investor community once again. We also thank Deloitte Afrique for their in-kind services to 20 of the VC4A Showcase ventures.

Calling all early-stage investors to join us at #AESIS2020

All early-stage investors are invited to register via: www.AfricaInvestorSummit.com. To ensure the investor community is able to connect and continue important discussions during these times, VC4A and ABAN are offering investors the opportunity to join free of charge.

“Feel free to invite your networks, but keep in mind the Summit is investor-only. For media requests, and partnership and sponsorship opportunities, please contact the organizers by email: team[at]AfricaInvestorSummit[dot]com,” the organizers say.