The total funding raised by African founders in the first half of 2023 is down more than 50% compared to the same period in 2022, according to Disrupt Africa’s Tech Startups Funding report.
While the funding outlook looks grim in the short term, founders looking to raise should focus on building a strong network in the VC ecosystem, seeking out insights and advice from those managing investment funds, and finally, upskilling their venture skillsets to help them successfully navigate the VC investment process.
To assist founders and aspiring VCs in achieving exactly this, CatalyzU has launched three new experiential fellowships in Venture Capital and Business Development
Following the success of their first experiential fellowship, CatalyzU is now accepting applications for three new fellowships:
- Venture Capital Fundamentals for aspiring VCs as well as pre-seed & seed stage founders
- Venture Capital Advance for aspiring VCs, as well as founders looking for an in-depth venture understanding
- Business Development for Startups
On joining each Fellowship, candidates will gain access to Africa’s largest venture capital community – Young African Catalysts, which is made up of Fellows from CatalyzU, lecturers and leaders from over 1000 startups and VC funds across Africa. This includes venture capitalists from Associate all the way through to Partner level.
Following the startup’s recent acceptance into Techstars Toronto’s 2023 batch, beating out over 1800 other startup applicants for their coveted spot, CatalyzU is doubling down on creating talent for the Future of Work.
Case study-based experiential learning with VC & Startup leaders
The three new experiential fellowships will run for 5 to 10 weeks from November 2023. All courses are designed around the central goal of providing learning through case studies that include working with real startups in Africa’s venture ecosystem and pitching to real VCs to test skills learnt. This approach ensures Fellows are equipped with the skills and tangible experience to confidently navigate the startup environment or even transition into a career in venture capital.
Talking about his experience in the Inaugural Venture Capital Fellowship, Adedamola Oloko, Innovation Partnerships and Investment at AXA Mansard, said:
“The Fellowship opened my eyes and mind to the new world of possibilities powered by venture capital – I was able to glean from top-level industry professionals on the state of VC and what my role can be in shaping the future of the space.”
Graduation into the prestigious Young African Catalysts network
CatalyzU alumni graduate into the esteemed Young African Catalysts network, which includes numerous perks, such as access to proprietary startup investment opportunities, venture ecosystem events, and access to the hundreds of VC Funds and founders in the YAC community. Adding to this, CatalyzU graduates are given curated assistance to either raise funds for their startup or secure full-time positions at one of the over 500 startups and 70 Venture Capital Funds in the community.
Apply Today at: https://catalyzu.io/courses/
Applications close on the 29th of October, 2023.
