Entrepreneur Olakunle Soriyan’s startup accelerator Africa House, which is the result of a partnership between Capital Group and Eshirya Africa, will invest an aggregated $1 million to propel emerging startups.
The assistance provided by the accelerator will not be limited to funding, but will also include technical and business assistance, as well as in-kind benefits that allow startups to reach entrepreneurial success.
The partnership will provide investors with an easy way to connect with entrepreneurs and innovators of African descent. With this support, Africa House aims to actualize business ambitions and help founders of African descent to, “play their role in the global curating of the Africa of their dreams.”
The efforts will be run by the office located in Plano, Texas, which Kunle Africa House CEO and Director Kunle Soriyan referred to earlier this year by stating,
“The [location] in Dallas is like the real engine. The goal is to have all of this room filled with entrepreneurs. We believe in walking our entrepreneurs all the way, we want to stay with our entrepreneurs for at least 15 years. We can accommodate your failures, we can accommodate your mistakes and then we can celebrate your victories as well.”
While the entity’s efforts are primarily targeted to entrepreneurs of African descent, other demographics can be eligible contenders as long as they are minority groups. This is the result of the accelerator “trying to reach out to the vulnerable and exposed in society”, according to Soriyan.
Ever since the launch of the Dallas operation, more than 350 applications have been received by Africa House. From this pool, 100 applicants were selected to participate in a pitch competition in which 32 teams were ultimately selected, with 6 closing deals with investors during the competition.
At this time, the startup accelerator has operations in the African cities of Nairobi, Kenya; Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as in the American cities of Plano, Dallas; and San Francisco, California.
