PULASPACE 2023 REVIEW
PULASPACE 2023 REVIEW
Hello all. As is customary for us at Pulaspace, we are reviewing the year ended and looking forward to next year with renewed vigour. Our year-end memo is an opportunity to update our community and the public on developments and activities undertaken by Pulaspace within the year.
Who we are and what we do
Pulaspace is a holding entity comprising Pulaspace Capital, Ngwana Africa, Spaghetti Valley Startup House and Pulaspace.com, dedicated to supporting African startups on their growth journey by providing access to funding, investment readiness training, mentorship, and access to markets through our partnerships with governments and regulators, among others.
Pulaspace Capital is a proposed seed-stage micro-venture capital fund focused on African tech startups. Ngwana Africa is a startup incubator program focused on supporting early-stage startups in Southern Africa, Spaghetti Valley Startup House is our venture studio, while Pulaspace.com is a digital platform that connects African startups looking to raise funds with investors through a simple mobile application.
2023 In Retrospect
The year began with enthusiasm. We set out to raise a US$10 million fund to invest directly in African startups of which we had great conviction. These startups are mostly from different cohorts, we have incubated through Ngwana Africa, some from applications on Pulaspace.com and others inbound from VCs at later stages who believed we were in a better position to support such early-stage startups. In a down market, this has been a tasking exercise. However, we are still in the market looking to raise and have been encouraged by some very positive engagements with potential LPs.
As part of our strategic vision to set up a cohesive operational structure for Pulaspace, we registered Pulaspace Capital in Kigali, Rwanda within the year. Rwanda’s openness to innovation and its rising reputation as a global business destination were decisive factors in choosing it as a potential domicile for the Pulaspace fund, and an additional base of operations following our positions in South Africa and Botswana. Moreover, we had wonderful support from the Rwanda Development Board, especially Clare Akamanzi, Philip Lucky, and Natacha Madirisha, and the Kigali International Financial Centre, specifically Lise Arakaza and Jean-Marie Kananura.
We organised the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2023 in partnership with the French Embassy in Botswana. The programme brought together early-stage investors, start-ups, corporates, policymakers, Government officials, academics, innovators, and entrepreneurs in Botswana and provided an avenue for engagement on strategies to improve cooperation between Botswana and France in driving tech and innovative digital entrepreneurship.
The event had active participation from the French Embassy in Botswana,the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone, Ministries of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in Botswana, Ministry of Agriculture France, Frech Tech South Africa, Proparco, Orange Botswana, the Fintech Association of Botswana, American Business Council in Botswana, the National Development Bank, Abaricom, Ripple Capital and Alliance Francaise. Several Botswana startups including Brastorne, UniPay, Aurora Media, Plexilife, and Xavier Africa, among others, presented their innovative solutions at the event.
The U.S-Africa Business Summit 2023 was held in Gaborone, Botswana. We had the unique opportunity to organise a startup venture showcase supported by the Government of Botswana and networking event as a platform for Southern African startups to showcase their ventures to investors from the Summit. Startups including Xavier Africa, Stencil Technologies, Innovateium, Grey X, Ipachi Capital among others, participated actively. The event was supported by the U.S. Embassy Gaborone in Botswana, the Botswana Digital Innovation Hub, the Ministry of Communication, Knowledge and Technology, Business Botswana, Abaricom, among others.
The 10th anniversary of the Africa Early-Stage Investor Summit (#AESIS 2023) was held during the year and as active members, we organised the Gaborone Investor Meet-up and attended the Summit in Cape Town. Given the current funding landscape, active angel investments are more crucial than ever for early-stage startups in Africa where conviction and mentorship are as important as capital. AESIS2023 was a wonderful platform to engage investors on the continent and develop partnerships that would provide value for Pulaspace, our affiliates, investors and startups.
We have always believed in collaboration and partnerships as a tool for achieving the best outcomes for all. In this respect, we established some strategic engagements and partnerships within the year with Alliance Française in Botswana, the Botswana Digital Innovation Hub, Zambian Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, LRG Consulting & Training inLesotho, DICOS Incubator in Burundi, Founder Institute Luanda, Angola, Afrilabs, SMART Africa, Yarona FM, among others.
In line with our focus on supporting startups within our network, we facilitated access to the African Startup Conference in Algeria for Innovateium and Bantu Vision. While we also participated in the Kusi Ideas Festival in Gaborone, Botswana where we showcased the Pulaspace.com platform to the Heads of State of Tanzania, Kenya,Botswana, and the Prime Minister of Rwanda.
Appreciation to the team and our supporters.
Our team has maintained its global structure over the years and 2023 was no different. General Partner, Mooketsi Bennedict Tekere in Botswana, our Partner/Lead Analyst Ernest Bosha, and our product development team of Iyke, and Alex based in Nigeria — Simba Mswika and Varaidzo Majada based in Zimbabwe. Musafiri lldephonse are based in Rwanda. Victor, and Bofithile Setlhare, Botlhe Khumo are based in Botswana while Jayren Teo is based in Singapore.
We are most grateful to our wonderful partners and supporters without whom we are not worthy of executing this noble mission to support innovation on the continent. Special appreciation to Tomi Davies, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Neo Nwako, and Samuel Minta who continue to provide invaluable guidance in all we do.
Looking Forward
The venture capital space in Africa and across the globe is recalibrating in light of macroeconomic conditions and monetary policy tightening. This has brought to emphasis the need for clear value propositions from all participants in the market and a deep understanding of the markets within which investors back startups. This environment suits Pulaspace and validates the foundational framework for Pulaspace’s thesis on venture funding which remains unchanged; smart, patient capital deployed to outstanding founders solving hard problems with innovative solutions in scalable markets is most likely to triumph.
Going forward, we shall continue to leverage our networks, relationships, and expertise, to support African founders. We encourage investors ready to bet on African startups via Pulaspace.com and Pulaspace Capital, to join us in funding the future.
