Uncap, a funding platform for early-stage funding in Africa, has officially launched operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The platform has called on applications for funding, with an aim to make early-stage funding accessible to innovative entrepreneurs in the sub-Saharan African region.
The application period will be open for 2 months and consists of a series of questions and assessments. Their application process will mainly focus on quantifiably assessing the founder’s entrepreneurial potential and their knowledge of their business.
Inspired by the inadequate financing avenues for early-stage entrepreneurs, Uncap began to develop a new way of funding using a fully remote, data-driven, streamlined and innovative investment model. The platform intends to fund existing businesses in need of capital between Ksh. 1.09 million ($10,000) and Ksh. 5.5 million ($50,000).
Uncap invests through an equity-based revenue sharing model. This model is designed to address the needs of early-stage businesses by buying a share in the entrepreneur’s business. This is then re-purchased by the entrepreneur at a pre-agreed price over time, as a percentage of their revenues. Post investment, every entrepreneur gets access to a personalized dashboard that delivers valuable data insights into key financial and non-financial KPIs and access to resources and training programs from local capacity-building partners to support the founders on their journey.
Commenting on the company’s launch, Franziska Reh, Uncap CEO, “We strongly believe in the founders we invest in and want them to be in the driver seat of their business. That means we give them room to grow at their own speed and trust them to make the right decisions. We only hold a minority stake, don’t take any board seats, and generally do not get involved if not needed.”
Since launching in 2019, Uncap has invested in 27 companies to test and refine its approach. This funding round aims to test Uncap’s ability to scale its investments to more than 100 companies in one batch.