88mph, an early stage start-up fund and three-month accelerator programmeme has launched in Cape Town. The programme assists start-ups by giving them investment, access to business networks and the know how to quickly grow their businesses.
88mph’s strategy in Africa is to fund strong teams and web-mobile ideas that have the ability to scale across English speaking Africa.
“The start-ups we look at are often small teams who lack experience and the network necessary to quickly grow their businesses. They often struggle to focus on their product and customers due to the multitude of other things that need time and attention, like admin tasks, office related issues and finding follow-on investment,” says 88mph founder Kresten Buch.
Adding value
In addition to funding, the 88mph team in Cape Town has put together talent and resources to add more value to start-ups:
- A partnership with Google has enabled the right space and Internet resources to build tech companies, as well as access to Google’s experienced web professionals who can mentor the start-ups.
- A host of highly experienced local South African and global mentors have been added to the already top-notch 88mph mentor network.
- Seven ‘Entrepreneurs-in-residence’ – experienced entrepreneurs, specialised in sales, programming and web design – are being brought in from Europe and the US to work side by side with the local start-ups during the three-month acceleration.
- 88mph arranges a demo day, where start-ups will get access to a group of investors and showcase what they’ve achieved so far.
Apply today
- Applications close on 15 December 2012.
- Start-ups can apply now on 88mph.ac
- 88mph invests up to $100k per start-up.
- Equity will depend on the start-up company valuations, which could range from $100k to $1 million.
- Altogether, eight to 15 teams will receive an investment and get accepted into the three-month programme.
- Teams will be notified if they have been accepted to the programme by 20 January 2013.
- The programme starts on 1 February 2013 at the 88mph Garage in Woodstock, Cape Town.
- Start-ups in the programme will have access to tech hubs in Nairobi and Cape Town, as well as to 88mph’s partner tech hubs across Africa.