In this edition:

• The MarketForce fundraising journey and how we predicted their success.
• How to effectively communicate your traction to investors.
• A contest to win $100!
• The importance of background checking your prospective investors and the blowback of FTT/FTX/Alameda saga.
• Opportunities and events in the ecosystem.
• Click this link to make sure you get the next newsletter!

Fundraising for MarketForce - The Operating System for Retail Distribution in Africa

This week we caught up with Tesh Mabaabu, the founder and CEO of MarketForce. MarketForce has achieved remarkable growth while serving a vital user segment.

MarketForce announced their $40m Series A earlier in the year. And even more interesting is that the Pariti pitch review tool predicted the fundraising likelihood for MarketForce months before they raised any funding.

Click this link to read more about his fundraising journey!

Communicating your traction to investors

We noticed a lot of founders struggle to effectively communicate their traction to investors. Traction shows investors that you are validating your problem-solution fit along with your operational and strategic approaches.

Below is an example of a great traction response for a FinTech company that focus on credit:

• $8M+ originated across 5.5K+ loans;
• 16x revenue growth in the last 12 months;
• $3M+ ARR as of July 2022;
• 5% loan default rate;
• Present in 5 countries in East Africa - Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania
• Exclusive partnership with Africa's largest bank, Ecobank
  
  

Let’s help you connect with investors, Get on Grove.

You can also join our upcoming Grove onboarding session and we’ll guide you through the process. Click this link to RSVP!

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A Contest to Win $100!!! 🤑

This month, Pariti Talent has re-launched its referral contest with a twist! The person with the highest number of referrals that get shortlisted will win the ultimate prize of $100 but this time, everyone who refers at least 3 shortlisted candidates during the competition will win $25!

If you haven’t joined the network yet, it’s not too late, click this link to get in.

Pariti Commentary - Founders, Know Your Investors.

If you've been following the news, of which I’m sure you have, you must have heard of the FTT/FTX/Alameda saga. Here’s a great explainer of the events that happened, if you want to educate yourself on it.

We’ve been having deep conversations about it at Pariti. Some African startups like Chipper Cash, Jambo, Nestcoin, Ovex, VALR, MARA, and Bitnob have been affected by the blowback because they had Alameda as investors. This impacted their liquidity. Nestcoin issued a message that they would have to let some of their employees go.

While we know this is an event that could only be understood in hindsight, it does point to the importance of investor due diligence. Obviously, you cannot catch everything, and I’m not entirely convinced that these founders could have predicted this, but there are some red flags you may notice with investors you’re speaking with. They may not be running an elaborate ponzi scheme that could jeopardise their financial commitment to you, but they could be engaging in behaviours that could negatively affect your startup.

As Greg Rockson says “Who you choose to bring on as an investor is one of the most important decisions you would make as a founder.” And we agree.

Events & Opportunities

Keep up to date about community events, opportunities and great things to read and listen to.

💥 EVENTS 💥

• *Creative Summit Nigeria || 17 November, Lagos **
• *AIESEC In Lagos TechFest || 17 November, Lagos **
• *Fireside Chats // Demystifying Venture Studio Model || 16 November, Nairobi **
• Africa Tech Summit || 24 November, London

OPPORTUNITIES

• Techbridge accelerator is offering equity investments of up to $200K. Apply here.
• Join the  Fuzé ****Digital Africa’s program and receive up to ~$49K (€50K) in equity funding. Apply here.
• Get a suite of educational programmes that challenge for young leaders at the African leadership academy. Apply here

🎙️ PODCASTS 🎙️

• *Diversity dividend – Female fund managers in Africa – Alitheia Capital || Disrupt Podcast **
• *Why Investing in “Boring” Companies Can Boost Employment and Economic Growth in Africa || Unlocking Africa **

Tweets

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