On September 17th, 2021, Outbox hosted the first session of a series of virtual roundtables around “Challenges & opportunities for EU-Africa Partnerships development”. The first session, “Improving access to funding for African DIHs & early-stage start-ups”, focused on the difficulties when financing a start-up but also on the importance of focusing on the quality of the business idea. Innovation was recognized as a crucial characteristic, which boosts an idea to make a difference. Inputs were given around the necessity of networking and knowledge-sharing platforms to facilitate business and partnership.

In the framework of the discussions around the funding landscape for DIHs and Start-ups, we had contributions from Omoniyi Kolade, Founder & CEO of SeerBit, a payment processing platform connecting online and offline commerce with a mission to build the payment ecosystem that helps scale businesses across Africa. Kolade is an expert on Africa’s financial services sector, particularly in payments technology, where he has provided advisory services to some of Africa’s largest banks and has introduced innovative digital products to Nigeria’s banking sector. He gave valuable inputs regarding his experience in selling product services to Europe. The second speaker was Reinier van Scherpenzeel, COO of Tunga, a platform for freelance software developers from Africa to connect with clients worldwide. Reinier shared his experience about raising funding from Europe for the business.

During the second part, the participants were divided into two breakout rooms and discussed how to improve access to funding networks for African DIHs & early-stage start-ups and how to generate and make accessible insights on funding needs and opportunities by African DIHs & early-stage start-ups. After the discussions, the participants returned to the plenary, presenting the results of group work to the audience. It was an excellent start to initiate a genuine dialogue upon the needs, problems, and opportunities for African DIHs & start-ups in Africa and Europe.

You can find more details about the event on our Twitter.

If you missed this Roundtable, you could still attend the next ones:

How Might We Improve knowledge exchange between African and European DIHs to build their capacity?

Date: Friday 24th Sept 2021

Time: 2 – 3.30 pm EAT

How Might We Improve Access to markets for African and European startups?

Date: Friday 1st October 2021

Time: 2 – 3.30 pm EAT

 Who should attend?

• Digital Innovation Hubs
• Investors
• Startup Founders

Details and Registration here.