Focus Academy welcomed an exciting group of technology innovators from South Africa today to downtown San Francisco for an in-depth bootcamp and acceleration program. The group of companies, all prospective portfolio companies of Kingson Capital, are in the Bay Area to integrate and immerse themselves in the start-up community over a two-week program. Given the global reputation that Silicon Valley has for entrepreneurship and the start-up ecosystem, the companies hope to learn best practices and mechanisms to accelerate their growth by accessing the vibrant innovative community that the Bay Area is known for. The entrepreneurial environment of Silicon Valley is characterized by innovation, collaboration, and risk-taking. It provides the essential motivational framework required for tech startups.
South African based Venture Capital firm, Kingson Capital, is currently raising its second fund, with a new round of investment of $100M and are investing in high growth tech assets. “We’re very excited about this two-week program and what it represents for young tech entrepreneurs from Africa” says Gavin Reardon, Managing Partner of Kingson Capital. The fund is pioneering the way in South Africa when it comes to early-stage investing. The program is about fast-tracking the right entrepreneurs through to a series A round and part of Kingson Capital’s broader strategy to reduce the barriers for other VC investors to invest in African startups. The fund is aiming to break the barrier into the global finance markets and demonstrate the broad spectrum of technology and the enormous potential that currently exists in the South African landscape.
By investing earlier in these promising start-ups, Kingson is leading the way in South Africa investment, with a willingness to take on more risk, investing earlier from pre-seed to series A, and by partnering with local accelerators.
In August 2019, in partnership with AKRO Accelerate, Kingson held the inaugural Kingson Akro Pitch Event in Cape Town. With input from Kingson’s Silicon Valley start-up advisor, Paul Kallmes, five start-ups were selected to come to the US and include: Eevly, Flamelink, iMpilo, Khoyn, and ParkUpp.
During the intense two-week workshop, the five start-ups will meet face-to-face with leading Silicon Valley experts from start-up scaling and implementation to social media marketing and team dynamics. Additionally, the group will access networking opportunities, one-on-one mentorship, and valuable advice on how to plan, develop, and execute on their business strategies.
