Launch Africa LP Barbecue in Düsseldorf with Schauenburg Ventures

23. June 2023

“The rise of Venture Capital in Africa” – under this motto a networking barbecue took place yesterday evening in Dusseldorf. The event was co-hosted by Launch Africa Ventures (Launch Africa), Africa’s largest seed fund with over 130 investments on the continent, and Counder, a company dedicated to fostering connections between the European and African investment ecosystems, for around 40 guests.

“We are very happy that a quick coffee meet up on the rise of Africa with Counder ended up in hosting a full evening as a platform for exchange and discussion on this exciting topic,” explains Malvine Komorek, Innovation Manager at Schauenburg Ventures. „Africa as a continent has attracted us decades ago with great success as German based investor and industrial holding, whereas Venture Capital is a comparably new focus. Bringing both together undermined by the overall growth of an upcoming continent is driving us. Meeting likeminded potential partners from the industry, VC background as well as public facilitators in our homebase is a great match.“

Launch Africa’s expertise as an ecosystem investor includes many years of experience with many players on the African continent. Zachariah George, Managing Director of Launch Africa, emphasizes, “Our goal is to foster collaboration between European and African investors, strengthen systems thinking and create wealth on both continents.”

In particular, communication between European and African societies is Counder’s core competence. Michel Weiss, Managing Director of Counder, sees great potential in working with African start-ups, “We profoundly believe in the vast potential of African entrepreneurs. With a deep understanding of the dynamics and opportunities in Africa, we offer tailored fundraising and investment solutions to secure the capital African companies need to grow and succeed. Our goal is to create bridges between entrepreneurs and investors, between impact and profit, and ultimately between Africa and Europe.”

“Our connection to African companies is based on a long tradition,” explains Florian G. Schauenburg, Managing Director of Schauenburg International. “For many decades now, our subsidiaries Schauenburg Systems and Stratosat have been operating very successfully as South African technology companies. Therefore, we know the market and are convinced of the potential of future investments in African technology start-ups.”

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