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VC4A’s Venture Showcase is an exclusive program of choice for early-stage investors and hand-picked startups looking to raise their Seed ($500K-$1,5M) and Series A ($1,5M-$25M) rounds.

The startups that are selected for the Venture Showcase represent the best investment opportunities from emerging markets. They have been vetted by leading investors through a rigorous referral and selection process. They demonstrate strong market potential and a competitive edge, are well-positioned for regional and international expansion, and are working on important innovations in the finance, healthcare, education, energy, transportation, logistics, and e-commerce sectors, amongst others.

• Since 2017, VC4A has selected 120+ companies from across the African continent as part of 8 Venture Showcase editions, resulting in over a hundred Seed and Series A deals totalling over $850M.
• With over 150 funds and angel groups participating, VC4A involves the early-stage investor community in every step of the selection process: referring companies for the program, evaluating the applications, conducting the interviews, and ultimately defining the portfolio.
• The program offers investor readiness masterclasses, one-on-one mentorship and technical support by leading VC fund managers and angel investors.
• Selected companies receive unprecedented exposure at industry’s leading events, such as Africa Early Stage Investor Summit, VivaTech, AfricaCom and EU Africa Business Forum, and engage in further conversations with investors via invitation-only DealRooms.
• In 2017 and 2019, the Venture Showcase approach was used in collaboration with the World Bank to host the XL Africa (2017) and L’Afrique Excelle (2019) programs, and received the World Bank President’s Award for the best World Bank project in 2017.
• The program is backed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Commission and supported, amongst others, by AWS, Deloitte and ENSafrica.

XL Africa, a program designed and implemented by VC4A and its partners has been awarded with the World Bank ‘President’s Award for Excellence’ in June 2018. This award recognizes and rewards teams for supporting the Maximizing Finance for Development approach, exceeding the expectations of the job, demonstrating WBG collaboration, and/or exhibiting exceptional leadership:

“XL Africa set out to prove that African digital entrepreneurs can be globally competitive. The result was a portfolio of 20 highly investable digital startups that are disrupting traditional industries and business models in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Read more about the program

What others have to say

“Following my time as a mentor to Kais for the 2020 VC4A Venture Showcase Series A, we have concluded a transaction, and Newtown Partners is now an investor in Fulfilment Bridge. After I had spent a few thoroughly enjoyable weeks working with Kais, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity not to invest myself.”

, Newtown Partners

“Newtown Partners was our lead investor and the first to join our pre-series A round. I would add that this relationship/transaction went 100% online from the beginning of the mentorship program until we closed the deal. I wanted to thank you guys for the opportunity knowing this was a direct result of the VC4A exposure and mentorship program. Thanks again for your support and proud to be VC4A alumni.”

Kais Khadhraoui, Fulfillment Bridge