EchoVC Pan-African Investments Nigeria Limited, has advocated for the Federal Government to consider injecting more innovation funds in the ICT as catalysts for job creation, economic recovery and growth.
The firm makes investments of $25K-$1.5m per startup with a goal of making 40-50 investments throughout the life of a particular fund,
Eghosa Omoigui, managing partner, EchoVC, gave the advise while addressing journalists on the venture capital firm’s strategy that underpins a disruptive approach to building startup businesses.
He said that the Company is focused on technologies that support the ‘99% bulge’ of underserved populations.
‘Our investments are targeted at high-growth services and scalable products in select markets, with distinct and sustainable competitive advantages, all of which affect daily life and provide essential services in large growing markets,’ he said, listing specific technology sectors of interest to the Firm to include: consumer internet and services, data, mobile, social, digital, media, content, and advertising, electronic/mobile-commerce, software, linguistics, gaming, among others.
In 2012, a national recruitment in search for an independent institution that will act as Fund Manager with the responsibility of overseeing fund-raising, deal sourcing, evaluation and execution, technology business incubation, portfolio management for the ICT sector of the country saw the birth of EchoVc as the pioneering fund manager behalf of the federal government.
As part of the her $50million target fund 1, EchoVC is also the sole manager of the Federal Government\’s pioneering innovation fund, a $10million commitment from the Federal Government to make seed and early-stage investments in high-growth technology startups, where existing investors are a mix of domestic and foreign institutional investors and asset managers.
Omoigu said that aside making investing on four startups in 2015, they anticipate making up to 10 seed-stage investments in 2016.
He however urged technology startups in the country to channel their incubation skills toward economic viable solutions that will avail them international investors capital and seed funding dedicated by the federal government.
“See, there is need for more Nigerians to come up through referral scheme to access the $10million ICT fund for tech startup companies. You should know that there is a forecast of net job growth impact of not less than 35,000 jobs in 2016 through the ICT and this is achievable…,” Omoigu said.
He added that the fund for Information Communication Technology (ICT) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) worth $10million made available by the immediate past Federal Government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) can still be leveraged by businesses to deepen their growth after passing through mentorship programmes.
The Managing Partner described EchoVC Partners as an experienced seed and early stage technology-focused Lagos based venture capital firm that seeks ‘to capitalized on Nigeria’s burgeoning period of growth in technology innovation by investing in next generation companies that will lead the technology renaissance across the continent as the fund will also provide investment opportunities in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia starting from Nigeria.”
Speaking specifically on their plans, he said, ‘EchoVC plans to fill the seed and early stage financing gap by producing mentorship and institutional angel funding to promising entrepreneurs and co-developing and stimulating the existing local angel community; co-invest in first institutional financings of emerging market technology companies with traction and deliver value-add with formal knowledge transfer frameworks that cross-pollinate US/Asia/Africa-based entrepreneurial insight’.
He added that they will work with portfolio companies to enhance enterprise value and exit value.