54 Collective

🧱 "Building without boundaries means building without prejudices," says our Portfolio Talent Lead, Ololade Odunsi. In this episode of our new youtube series titled, #54Unscripted, Ololade shares how she empowers African founders by helping them build high-performing teams that fuel growth and success. 🚀 Ololade’s work ensures that our portfolio ventures have access to the best talent across the continent, regardless of their location, fostering an ecosystem of diversity and collaboration. To us, building without boundaries means transcending geographical limitations and breaking down prejudices, empowering African founders to build world-class companies empowered by great teams. 📺 Tune in to the latest episode and subscribe to our Youtube channel for more → https://lnkd.in/gxBcNQnJ #54UnscriptedSeries #BuildWithoutBoundaries

🚀 Let’s give a warm welcome to Aly El Shalakany joining 54 Collective as Managing Director for Egypt and North Africa! 🇪🇬 With over a decade of experience in venture investments and startup mentorship, Aly has been instrumental in helping founders scale their products and businesses in the Middle East, across Africa and globally. His extensive expertise, spanning across legal and venture capital funding, makes him perfectly poised to guide 54 Collective’s expansion into the Egypt and broader North African market. Welcome, Aly! We’re excited about the incredible growth and opportunities ahead as we continue to support Africa’s most promising ventures. Connect with Aly to learn more 📍 www.54collective.vc #Join54Collective #54CollectiveEgypt #BuildWithoutBoundaries

Heads up, Lagos,! 🇳🇬 Exciting times ahead as our team gears up for Moonshot by TechCabal taking place from 9th to 10th October at the Eko Convention Centre this week. 🚀 Here's what we’ve got coming up: 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟵, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 🛠 Workshop: Product Strategy in Hard Mode: How Building in Africa Really Works 📍 With: Andrew Obuoforibo (Head of Product) 🕒 2:40 PM - 3:10 PM WAT 💡 Panel Discussion: Innovating in Payments and Fintech 📍 With: Ahunna Ogunedo (Investment Manager) 🕒 Time: 3:15 PM - 3:55 PM WAT 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 🎤 Keynote: Real Capital That Supports African Founders Where It's Needed Most 📍 With: Bongani Sithole (CEO) 🕒 Time: 11:15 AM - 11:25 AM WAT Gen F Pitch Day 📍With: Amara Muoneke, Dolapo Oni ACA., Malanee Hutton, Yunus Ibrahim 🕒 Time: 10 AM WAT 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟭, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 🌟 Community Engagement Activity: Innovators Playground - An opportunity to listen, learn, and collaborate with founders and peers, as we spend time understanding the realities and challenges they face and how we can assist you to #BuildWithoutBoundaries: https://lu.ma/h9mk6t5z. 📍 With: Zinhle Phakathi, (MPhil) Cheri Blair Alumni (Community Engagement Specialist) 🕒 Time: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM It’s an action-packed week of insights and collaboration! Get your tickets here: https://lnkd.in/eCp2vype See you there! 😉 #54Collective #MoonshotByTechCabal #BuildWithoutBoundaries

🌟 Gen F Pitch Day at Moonshot – Calling All Visionary Founders! 🌟 Are you a pre-revenue or concept-stage founder with a game-changing idea? 🚀 Are you actively ideating in sectors like Fintech, Healthcare, Agtech, Logistics, Commerce, or Climatetech? This is your chance to connect with the Gen F team @54collective_vc as we head to #Nigeria for Moonshot 2024! Apply now for the Gen F Pitch Day at Moonshot and get the opportunity to pitch your idea to us. The application deadline is October 6th, 12pm noon WAT. 📅 Event Details: Date: October 10th Venue: Eko Convention Center, Lagos Apply here: forms.gle/Ds6ZtwdaAxpnkC… ✨ Spaces are limited, and only shortlisted founders will be contacted. Don’t miss this opportunity to pitch your idea, connect with industry experts, and explore how we can support you on your startup journey! We’re excited to learn more about you, see you there! #54Collective #GenFPitchday #Moonshot2024

🚀 scale secures $700,000 in pre-seed funding to simplify card issuing and payments in Africa. scale, an Issuer Orchestration Platform and pioneering payments enabler, is excited to announce a successful Pre-Seed funding raise of $700,000, led by prominent early-stage investors 54 Collective and First Circle Capital, joined by Sunny Side Venture Partners and prominent expert angels from the industry. 🌍 As scale celebrates its first anniversary in October, this significant milestone sets the stage for an exciting journey ahead. The fundraise is instrumental in accelerating scale’s market entry into Kenya, Zambia, and Cote d’Ivoire, where the company is poised to go live and transform the payments landscape, enabling critical payment use cases at speed. In less than a year, scale has strategically secured investment, banking, network, and payment technology partners, positioning itself as a modern card issuing orchestration and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) enabler. Simultaneously, Scale offers a seamless and commercially sustainable solution tailored to the unique needs of businesses and their customers across Africa. 🐘 Miranda Perumal, CEO of scale, believes the investment is testament to Scale’s value proposition and the venture’s commitment to propelling African fintechs to new heights. “It’s not just what we do; it’s ingrained in the very fiber of our values. With the backing of our esteemed investors and partners, we are well-positioned to expedite our ecosystem engagement, build trust with African businesses and continue to strongly focus on solving major pain points when enabling card rails by delivering unrivalled, world class service,” Perumal says. 🔑 According to Hetal Patel, Chief Investment Officer at 54 Collective, by simplifying the card-issuing process and addressing key pain points, Scale is uniquely positioned to unlock value for its clients, many of whom offer products and services for the underserved, like women and youth. “At 54 Collective, we believe in backing ventures poised to disrupt industries and drive real impact across the continent, including through widening financial inclusion and enabling entrepreneurship and business growth. The Scale team, led by a rockstar female founder, deep sector expertise and proven bias toward action truly excite us, and we look forward to seeing Scale become a critical enabler for fintechs,” Patel says. 💳 Scale is actively engaging global investors and partners for similar collaborations, aiming to empower any-tech business with payment and card use cases in Africa. ➡️ Read the full release here: https://lnkd.in/eQBucjEV For more information about scale and its innovative solutions, visit https://lnkd.in/d7rbxUvw #54Collective #scale #preseed #investment #venturecapital #africantech

🎙️ Tune in to hear Bongani, Alina, and Roo speak with Ibrahim about 54 Collective, supporting founders creating impact at scale through innovation, their personal journeys and so much more. Lock it in! 🚀 📰 Want more? Check out the In The Valley newsletter for this episode: https://lnkd.in/gYyjViq6 😀 #54Collective #Podcast #Leadership #InTheValley #AfricanTech

🚀 TUNL raises seed round to drive ecommerce exports surge from South Africa TUNL, South Africa’s leading shipping platform for ecommerce exporters, has concluded a priced seed round led by E4EAfrica Africa with participation from Jonathan Smit (exited Payfast), Jozi Angels and an SPV arranged by Utopia Capital Management. 📈 The capital will continue driving their rapid growth in the South African market, and support product expansion into international payments and marketing support for SMEs. 💡 TUNL’s singular mission is to support SMEs to export more, fuelling business growth, entrepreneurship and job creation. Their platform offers 50 to 80% savings on international shipping costs, driven by AI product classification tech, novel global duty and tax tools, and great customer support, providing SMEs with a streamlined and automated export shipping experience. “We invested early in TUNL because we've always thought that the problems they're solving for South African merchants are global problems. We're deep believers in what they've built so far and are excited for what's next,” says Sam Sturm, Chief Portfolio Officer and Co-founder at 54 Collective, an early backer of TUNL. Craig Lowman, Co-founder at TUNL, has been leading the growth charge. “We want to ensure that every business, large or small, can have an equal chance to convert overseas sales. To do this we are reducing the costs and frictions of international shipping via our platform and tools,” Lowman says, maintaining the founding mission of the company. If your business ships internationally, check out TUNL and sign up for free at www.tunl.to to unlock your exports today. ➡️ Read the full release here: https://lnkd.in/d3-ihgAp #Ecommerce #54Collective #TUNL #VentureCapital #SeedRound #Investment #Fundraise

🚀 Following the success of our founder engagement activity in Kenya, we're happy to announce our next activity in Lagos, Nigeria on the fringes of the upcoming Moonshot by TechCabal! 🇳🇬 🤩 Introducing 'The Innovator’s Playground' - an opportunity to listen, learn, and collaborate with founders and peers, as we spend time understanding the realities and challenges they face and how we can assist you to #BuildWithoutBoundaries. Join a select group of founders for interactive sessions, community-driven collaborations, and deep-dive discussions aimed at sparking and shaping innovation. 🚨 Spots are limited so apply now to secure your place → https://lu.ma/h9mk6t5z #54Collective #MoonshotbyTechcabal

🎉 It's exciting to see two of our portfolio companies, RxAll and Rology, recognized on the prestigious Norrsken Impact 100 list for 2024! 🌍 RxAll and Rology were recently showcased on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square, New York, during #ClimateWeek, as part of the top 100 global companies driving positive impact and poised to transform healthcare across Africa. Join us in celebrating this achievement with them! 🚀 While you're at it, check out our website to explore our offerings, discover more about our portfolio, and learn how we're empowering more startups to #BuildWithoutBoundaries → https://lnkd.in/dnrkt7KU #NorrskenImpact100 #HealthcareInnovation #SocialImpact #TimesSquare

🚀 We’re Excited to Announce Our Membership with 2X Global! 🌍 We believe that innovation and entrepreneurship can drive prosperity across Africa, fueled by inclusivity and equity. In line with this mission, we’re joining forces with 2X Global, the leading organisation unlocking gender-smart capital at scale. "To tackle deep gender inequities in venture investing, we need gender-transformative strategies across the investment cycle. Joining 2X Global reaffirms our commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs across Africa." — Vasundhra Thakur, Director of Embedded Impact and Learning (54 Collective) 💡 Our Gender Strategy at 54 Collective: • $150k in additional non-dilutive capital at a 2.5% interest rate for women founders. • Using the 2X Criteria to advocate for a gender lens in product and service design. • Creating a dynamic, inclusive ecosystem for early-stage teams. Jessica Espinoza, CEO of 2X Global, welcomed us into the community! “We’re excited to have 54 Collective officially join our network! They’ve long used our 2X Criteria in their investments, and we look forward to their active role in our peer-learning, networking, and advocacy efforts.” 🌱 Together with 2X Global, we’re committed to driving inclusive growth, breaking barriers for women founders, and ensuring gender equality in the VC landscape. Learn more about our journey and approach to fostering a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem here → https://lnkd.in/gh--Gb-j #54Collective #2XGlobal #GenderSmartCapital #BuildWithoutBoundaries