Managers of the eVA fund visit Africa once every four to six weeks, but this month will see their latest “investor field trip” to the continent. Prior to the visit, which will include trips to Cape Town, Johannesburg and Nairobi later this month, the eVA Fund has partnered with 88mph which should increase the likelihood of both groups finding future suitable opportunities.

Speaking to HumanIPO Brian Hirman, founder and investment director at the eVA Fund, said: “It is very interesting for us to look at investing in early stage companies because we don’t normally look at startups. “But when they come out of the programme they have the clients and customer base. The chances of those companies becoming successful are increased tremendously when they graduate from the accelerator.”

While in Cape Town and Nairobi, 88mph and the eVA Fund will host joint pitching events, for the nine or 10 investors present from the eVA Fund.

Kresten Buch, founder of 88mph, said: “It is important to bring more angel investors down to Cape Town and Nairobi, rather than sending startups to Europe. We are pulling them here. “Originally when I came to Africa I had a certain perception. I would much rather see initiatives bringing investors to Africa. When they come here they get a much better idea.”

Hirman echoed that sentiment and said such trips are crucial to educate their investors about what is happening on the continent and what is out there. He added: “Once a year we take our investors on a field trip to look at some companies. This is a way for them to actually see what is going on and experience it.”

As well as partnering for the pitching the events, eVA Fund staff will have access to 88mph’s offices in Cape Town and Nairobi. 88mph will further benefit from the eVA Fund passing applicants on who may not be suitable or big enough for venture capital investment yet.

Nomanini CEO Vahid Monadjem started the company to bring the power of the mobile revolution to the communities that have the most to gain from it. This month Nomanini raised series-A funding from Netherlands based eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund) and Esther Dyson. The funds will enable Nomanini to roll out its proprietary, cloud-enabled system in South Africa and, with eVA Fund’s established pan-African network, begin further pilots across Africa. By March, Nomanini will have facilitated over 1 million transactions in South Africa’s informal economy.

Vincent Kouwenhoven of eVA Fund: “Nomanini fits with eVA Fund’s mandate to close the digital divide in Africa. Across Africa we see innovative local services being developed. They require a means to collect micro-payments to thrive in their markets. This is the vital problem that Nomanini solves.”

Esther Dyson of EDventure Holdings: “What excites me about Nomanini is that we are not just investing in devices and a business model, we are also investing in people.  We are training our vendors so that they can become more productive businesspeople – and so that Nomanini can scale on the basis of a network of increasingly sophisticated resellers. That way we can grow rapidly – but without becoming a commodity service.”

Nomanini enables informal market entrepreneurs to earn income selling prepaid vouchers in their local communities. Share-taxi drivers, street vendors or informal retailers – local entrepreneurs – use Nomanini terminals to sell prepaid vouchers and earn on-going profit. The terminals are designed specifically for use in the informal markets. The potential is huge: South Africa alone has 150 000 share taxi drivers and over 1 million street vendors. The rest of Africa and other emerging markets present even greater opportunities many times larger.

Nomanini means “anytime” in Zulu. Nomanini’s portable, user-friendly terminals facilitate the sale of a broad range of prepaid products, in any place, at anytime. Nomanini makes electronic and financial services available to consumers in emerging markets. Nomanini recognises that prepaid vouchers, typically used in mobile telecommunications, can be used to provide access to other services such as electricity, insurance and savings plans. Nomanini has already started serving prepaid mobile airtime and is currently testing new prepaid electricity vouchers.

Nomanini’s progress to date shows that prepaid vouchers are a highly effective way to collect micro-payments for the provision of services in emerging markets. Vouchers reduce transaction friction for both the consumer and the vendor. Vendors want fast, easy transactions and consumers want convenience and availability. Due to difficulty in distributing vouchers in informal and rural markets, prices are inflated and consumers with the lowest income often end up paying the most for essential services such as electricity and telecommunications.

Nomanini has already launched in South Africa, with entrepreneurs earning by selling prepaid vouchers. In so doing, these entrepreneurs are keeping money in their communites. Some entrepreneurs have taken Nomanini terminals deep into rural areas, pulled by latent demand. Clearly local entrepreneurs have the best sense for local demand and with this funding in place, Nomanini will continue to support them.

Want to know more about Mimiboard, the virtual noticeboard which empowers local communities in Africa? Please check the video!

Mimiboard describes itself as your personal pinboard or noticeboard that you carry with you, that you create, that you contribute to and that communities use to communicate and/or transact.

The service was the most voted app by participants at the event out of over 10 mobile apps and services that were demoed. Other innovative products and apps that were demoed include WetindeAPPs, MaxMalipo, EGG-Energy, MyOrder, M-Shop, Snapplify, Uhasibu, MoMaths Project, M-Ganga, and MyShop.

Built with the Google App Engine using Python and JQuery, the app currently works on Android, J2ME, SMS, WAP-enabled devices, and has attracted over 5000 users within its first week of official launch, according to Johan Nel, CEO of Umuntu Media, the company behind the service.

Of course, this number will increase over the months as platforms such as radio stations in Kenya with millions of visitors have already started using the service on their sites.

Nel received a Nokia Lumia 800 phone after winning in the app demo competition.

Source: Techloy.com

Tell us about Umuntu Media, how did the company get started?

“I have always been a media man. My experience in media started in Newspapers. I moved to digital consultancy roles and then headed up the digital division for a large international publisher, looking at all the magazines and their digital strategy. I am originally from Namibia, and whenever I traveled back to Namibia to visit friends or family, I could never find information online. With my entrepreneurial hat and passion for media I saw a huge gap for local content across the continent. I wrote the business plan, sold my house (for startup capital) and secured additional seed funding needed to prove the concept. Umuntu Media was born.”

What is the market opportunity you tap into?

“In the majority of the countries we enter (we are now in 8) the online content and publishing space is still wide open. A few newspapers get it, a few stand-alone vertical players in each country get it, but no one is doing what we are doing on such a large scale across Africa. As you know connectivity and speed is increasing across our continent so more and more people flock online via PC or mobile. The content side is still lagging far far behind. We want to fill that gap. On the revenue side the potential is huge! Marketeers across the continent are not spending on digital yet, as they don’t understand it. We are the educators, the pioneers, and we develop the digital knowledge and awaken the digital spend with major advertisers.”

Operating a number of portals across several African markets, why did the company expand so soon?

“Yes, we currently run 8 portals (two of them we also run in Portuguese) and will launch 4 more in the next two months, to bring the total to 12. Our strategy is simple, to be in the top three local websites in each country we enter, and then with the combined reach on our Pan African network to be one of the biggest publisher networks across the continent. We want to deliver daily, relevant news and information to our readers.”

What makes Umuntu Media unique and how are you different than the alternatives available?

“We compete with various players. Here is a quick summary of our USP. On local level, in each country, we compete with the local newspapers. Mostly they focus on hard-hitting news, either pro or anti government related. We bring the lifestyle elements. We have news, international news, entertainment, jobs, property, What’s on, movie schedules, Music videos of local artists, we have huge and entertaining Facebook communities (in most countries we have the largest Facebook pages in that country). We entertain, educate and relate to our readers on a daily basis. Then we compete with the international news sites. Yes they are brilliant at news, but the local relevance is poor. On a CNN you won’t find the local news story that happened in Lusaka today or be able to buy a house in Zambia.

Then you have the players who report on an African wide model. So this is one website that covers all of Africa. Again, these are not relevant to the guy living in Kafue in Zambia. Then the tourism websites. These are all done for international travelers and local readers find little relevance here. They won’t know that the café around the corner has a special tonight, or give away tickets for a couple to wine and dine in a great local restaurant tonight.

With our new technology that we launched called Mimiboard our readers can engage with us from the ground up via SMS, Android and any J2ME phone. We can report on traffic problems and crime reports. We can enable a fisherman on his boat to connect with the restaurant owner or market in the nearby town. We can enable the Lodge owner to decide this morning he is running a lunch special and he can SMS that and the market will know about it. We can create hyperlocal communication and trade. That is the difference!”

Can you tell us a bit about the business model?

“- Build an engaging audience
- Educate the local markets about digital marketing
- Drive great engaging marketing campaigns on our platforms in-country
- Then we also drive listings revenue and it provides us with great annuity revenue.
- We have partnered with a GPS Mapping company. When someone signs up for a premium listing they even get better coverage on GPS maps!
- Then we have our own virtual currency called Mimibucks.”

Why did you decide to go for venture funding?

“I come from a middle class family, I have big dreams and I needed funding to build this business. I tool everything I had, all my savings, my house, etc… and invested that. I needed some additional funds to get started. Also building a media business across the continent takes time and resources.”

Can you talk a little about the fundraising process, what were the learning points you can share with fellow entrepreneurs?

“I was just at the right time and the right place with a great business plan that addressed the real opportunity of that time. I believe that we sit with massive opportunity in Africa, the eyes of the world are on us. If you have the guts, the experience in your field, a sound business mind and a killer product you should be able to find funding. Just know that it is hard, that you have to be fully committed. Believe in it, never give up and send another 1000 emails!”

Since starting Umuntu Media, how do you see the venture landscape in Africa changing?

“It is really positive to see all the attention that the continent is getting. I am very fortunate to travel a lot and meet amazing people across the continent. From entrepreneurs to VC’s and everyone is certainly positive about the future of Africa and how technology will be used to change things, improve the lives of millions, drive the economy, and create the worlds next billionaires.”

You secured funding from eVentures Africa. Can you tell us about this partnership and why you chose them?

“eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund) believed in my vision from day one. They (Brian and Vincent) share the love for Africa and the passion for technology. They became much more than a “bank.” They are involved with strategy, they help us connect, they help drive this company to become THE media company across the continent.”

What are the major milestones you look to achieve in the coming year?

“We want to be in the top 3 sites in each country we enter(12). We want our Mimiboard technology to be installed in each of our portals and get real hyper local information from the ground up. We want our Mimiboard technology to be used by one other major publisher in 12 markets and reach 5 millions users in 6 months. We want to be profitable. We want to secure a Round B financing.”

What do you think of VC4Africa and do you have a final message for the community?

“Really great initiative! We have the opportunity to be a very strong community on VC4Africa, we should all become a little closer, share ideas, test products, ask advice and connect one another with other businesses. We all share the same goals and vision for our beautiful continent.”

Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to VC4Africa. It is great to hear about your fundraising process, your plans for the future, and progress to date. Local content is essential and a big opportunity indeed.

Source: Venture Capital for Africa, www.vc4africa.biz

Author: Helen Ngoh

iZambia was the first in a series of portals containing up to the minute information about entertainment, property, jobs, accommodation and news specifically relevant to people across Zambia. On the new iZambia you can find:

• Top local, internation, sport and entertainment news
• LIfestyle: Fashion, Food, Gadgets, Gossip, Health, Movies, Music, Relationships, Travel and TV
• What’s on section
• Jobs: Manage your CV online, apply online, setup job alerts
• Property to buy and to rent
• Resturant guide
• Accomodation guide with online bookings
• Business directory
• Games
• Music and videos
• Social platform where you can create events, groups, share photos and video or find the love of your life

Umuntu Media’s iPortal series was born in response to a lack of local information that is immediately relevant to the people of Africa.

Johan Nel, CEO and founder of Umuntu Media says of the relaunch: “The relaunch of iZambia consolidates our position as the fastest growing online publisher in Africa. From the start we saw tremendous growth in uptake of the portal, clearly demonstrating the need to generate comprehensive, updated and locally relevant content to people across Africa.”

Umuntu Media will soon be launching Mimiboard, a social media tool designed in Africa by Africans for Africa. The platform will be launched in alpha version in January 2012.

Johan Nel, CEO and founder of Umuntu Media says of the relaunch: “The relaunch of iZambia consolidates our position as the fastest growing online publisher in Africa. From the start we saw tremendous growth in uptake of the portal, clearly demonstrating the need to generate comprehensive, updated and locally relevant content to people across Africa.”

Brian Hirman, eVentures Africa Fund: “We are delighted with the relaunch of the iZambia lifestyle portal. The success of the portal from a standing start clearly demonstrates the ongoing and growing need to bring locally relevant content to people across Africa.”