Female founders imagine a world without investors At the AWS Startups Women’s Demo Day Lagos organized by the cloud provider and VC firm Ajim Capital, female founders and investors talked about the less generous VC landscape.
“Last year, it was all success stories,” noted Chioma Okotcha, COO of PayHippo, highlighting the contrasting fundraising challenges this year.
Okotcha said this while speaking on a fireside chat at the AWS Startups Women’s Demo Day that was held in Lagos.
Other speakers on the chat, which tackled how founders were navigating the challenging funding atmosphere, were Eunice Ajim, founder of VC firm Ajim Capital, who moderated the discussion; Damilola Olokesusi, founder of mobility startup Shuttlers; and Omoyeni Olulana, co-founder of spend management platform Flex Finance.
All three founders speaking to Eunice Ajim had raised a combined amount of over $10 million in disclosed funding.
Olokesusi, having secured $1.6 million in 2021 and $4 million this year, expressed surprise at the fundraising difficulty.
This year has been the slowest year for deals since the pandemic, both in volume and amount.
Global economic downturn affects investor interest; female founders, receiving less than 2% of African investment, face heightened vulnerability.
Olulana of Flex Finance disclosed that she pitched to about 2,000 investors to close their most recent round.
“Isolate the no’s; don’t let them disempower you,” advised Olulana, urging founders to sending cold emails to potential investors.
Oyin Solebo notes prolonged deal closures as female founders face tougher questions, emphasizing demand, revenue growth, and retention.
Solebo’s insight aligns with recent reports, indicating investors’ decreased interest in growth-stage startups due to inflated valuations, causing mounting pressure.
For exclusive update on women founders and funding check our home page https://techviral.sourcein.business/
1 Comment