"Irony is a lot of African founders getting funded still aren’t Black"
As I continue to dig into Africa ecosystem more, I’m finding this statement I heard to be true. Crazy to think that even in Africa, Black founders are fighting to get dollars. Racism runs so deep globally…
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@hpierrejacques
crunchbase was hardpressed to find 30… almost laughable - also “latinx founders” being funded are typically almost never darker skinned…yea I said it! And dont tell me the talent isnt there…VCs just arent interested in talking to them
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@hpierrejacques
The numbers are staggeringly sad. In Nairobi atm, Lots of deal flow and no funding. Is it lack of trust in Africans or do we lack the operating/financial rigor? Founded Clutch Impact Fund based in Oakland to solve and close this gap. Would love to partner as you dig in!
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@hpierrejacques
Similarly in Latam, also seen "Latam companies" led by white dudes from the US.
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@hpierrejacques
2nd the observation. More than founders, I’ve seen African teams where 80%+ of the management team are not black, most often in South Africa. That is a red flag 🚩
Only way a management team in Africa is that not black is if you are going out of your way to make it not black…
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@hpierrejacques
It really be like that! Wait till you check how many black fund managers there are.
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@hpierrejacques
Add racism, imperialism, Neo colonialism and sexism coz it’s even worse for black African female founders
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@hpierrejacques
After a successful pilot program primarily in East Africa of 15 Enterprisers,
@TeamSHIFTInc
first official cohort begins Jan 18. We’ll provide seed money to a few of our strongest participants after five weeks of training called “Launching into E-commerce.”
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@hpierrejacques
I think about it all the time with other Africa-focused VCs… Who will own and fund our future unicorns… how do we tap more local capital and recycle gains rather than allow them to be repatraited to the developed world… hoping we advance this conversation this year.
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