Social enterprise New Venture Africa, which connects consultants, investment professionals and global business talent with innovative African startups, has rebranded as The Baobab Network and opened a seed round.
Disrupt Africa reported in April New Venture Africa, founded by Tom Fairburn and Toby Hanington, had undergone its pilot in Nairobi, and the company has been busy since then delivering more projects, building a new brand and preparing for the opening of its seed round.
The Baobab Network is focused on building a community of startups, consultants and investors committed to driving growth and innovation in Sub Saharan Africa. It has so far completed strategy projects with six different startups in Nairobi, with 20 consultants from seven countries around the world.
“The main focus of the programmes continues to be driving revenue growth and improving the investor readiness of their clients, always leaving the startup teams with validated, carefully thought through strategic advice and a tangible set of resources to going forward,” Fairburn said.
In the next few months The Baobab Network will deliver more focused programmes, starting with women entrepreneurs at the end of November and a fintech-focused programme in January.
Next year the team will be focused on building a highly curated investor community to which they will be referring carefully vetted opportunities, as well as expanding their network of corporate partners and impact consultants around the world.
The Baobab Network has also opened its seed round on the UK crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, raising money to drive growth over the next three years by expanding its team, forming new partnerships and increasing the geographical reach of its work.
