FundRaise Con 2022

By Founders Events Team | April 4, 2022

Raising capital for a private company is a complex process. It can take months (if not years) of a founder's time that should rather be spent growing the company. It is also highly technical and requires a corporate-finance background in order to complete the valuations, financial modeling, due diligence, and other aspects investors look for.

FundRaise Con seeks to share the journey of those who have successfully raised finance. We equip founders with best practice principles that can be used when raising capital and closing that next big deal. Investors themselves, who are doing deals every day, will present and share tips. Likewise, for investors, FundRaise Con offers an incredible pool of high-caliber founders that are building scalable and investable companies.

SA’s Investment Health Check

Q&A between

Tanya van Lill - CEO of SAVCA and Lizanne Joubert from OCFO

Lizanne asks Tanya about her feelings regarding potential investment in SA in 2022.

Tanya speaks about the importance of promoting SA as a viable investment environment and praises this year’s budget speech for highlighting the role that SMEs can play in job creation. Covid has opened up opportunities for digital disruption and changing consumer behavior that entrepreneurs can exploit for new business and revenue streams.

Speakers talk about the Ukraine war, and the possible impact on international supply chains. This year’s SAVCA conference theme is ‘Fluidity’ and Tanya stresses the importance of adaptability and fluidity in any entrepreneur, and urges them to be ready to scale at any time. She expects health, education, technology, infrastructure, and fintech to be growth industries for the next 3-5 years.

The evolution of the venture landscape over the past 15 years

Keynote Speaker: Keet van Zyl - Co-founder of Knife Capital

Keet discusses the history of the venture capital space in SA, where fifteen years ago there were very few venture capital companies, few deals to be had, and investors were mostly Angel investors. This has changed with more money available to entrepreneurs, and International VC also investing in the continent. He concludes by highlighting a number of factors that are necessary for entrepreneurial success.

Fundraising Journey

Keynote Speaker Matt Kloos - CFO of CompariSure

Matt shares insights from his personal investment journey, and well as lessons learned. He believes that fundraising should start early and be part of the initial business plan. Matt further gives pointers on valutions and how to approach that process with investors. He points out that the process of fundraising can be a distraction from the business of building a company, then moves on to give advice on valuations and negotiations.

What are venture capital and investment companies looking for?

Panel: Uwais Asmal, Rob Hersov, Hans Otterling, and Ian Lessem

This panel of highly skilled and experienced individuals discuss areas within the African content that offer development and investment opportunities. Technology and tech that can solve uniquely African problems are an advantage, and health, safety, logistics, communication, and banking continue to be areas of growth and innovation.

Speakers then outline the factors that make Africa, as opposed to Europe, a lucrative market for investors and entrepreneurs. Factors include a young and growing population of tech consumers. They also point out that Africa has unique problems and restrictions that push unique innovation, and give practical advice on negotiating the valuation and investment phase of your business.

What are venture capital and investment companies looking for?

Panel: Uwais Asmal, Rob Hersov, Hans Otterling, and Ian Lessem