Initio Capital

We, the passionate founders of Velocity Africa, embarked on this journey with a deep-rooted understanding of the challenges and opportunities that startups face. Having walked the entrepreneurial path ourselves, we know the value of not just financial backing but also strategic guidance, invaluable insights, and a supportive network of like-minded visionaries. Our vision is to empower aspiring founders on the African continent and beyond. We are driven by an unwavering commitment to excellence and a shared mission to be early investors in some of the most significant companies in Africa. Through strategic funding, we identify and nurture high-potential ventures, fostering a culture of trust and transparency in our relationships with founders and fellow investors. Our passion for empowering Africa’s giants and shaping a thriving entrepreneurial landscape has borne fruit. With over 50 successful investments and a combined valuation of over $200 million, we have become a catalyst for transformative growth, innovation, and progress. As we continue to unlock the potential of a new generation of trailblazers, our impact reaches across borders and industries. Our story is one of empowering Africa’s visionaries, creating a lasting legacy that will leave a positive impact on generations to come. Our Vision To be the driving force behind the success and growth of groundbreaking startups in Africa and beyond, shaping a future of progress and positive change. Our Mission To empower and support aspiring founders by providing strategic funding, invaluable insights, and a supportive network, fostering a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that fuels innovation and transforms industries. Value Proposition $10,000 - $50,000 Cheques: We also provide additional follow-on funding $100,000 in credit line available: Non dilutive financing for revenue generating startups 50+ Industry Mentors Available: Build alongside other founders who have gone ahead. 48 Hours Decision Time: We do not want to waste your time

Beta Boom is led by two general partners, Kimmy and Sergio Paluch. Yes, they share a last name because they are married and have been partners in life and business for over twenty years. They are both passionate about making the world a better place through technological innovation and giving overlooked founders a fair shot at fulfilling their visions. Kimmy and Sergio have two boys, Rafael and Adrian, who were Beta Boomers from the beginning, hanging out with founders in Beta Boom’s office over the summer of 2018. Rafael wants to work for Beta Boom one day and Adrian wants to be a professional footballer (soccer player). We'll work alongside you from day one. A lot of VCs say that they’ll be there for you, but few are as involved as us and most give generic startup advice. Depending on what you need, we support you on getting things done across product development, sales, marketing, and fundraising. We meet you where you are. Not literally, but figuratively. We work with you and your team to figure out where our support can be most impactful. If your team is strong on engineering and marketing, but need help with sales, that’s what we’ll help with. If your team is great at sales but needs help with engineering and marketing, that’s what we’ll focus on. If all you need is fundraising support, that’s all we’ll do. Focus on the "how" not "what." We don’t like telling founders what to do or spouting useless startup advice. You know your business and customers better than we ever will, and you should make decisions for your company. Plus, you don’t need dark overlords. What we try to help with is the “how.” How do you set up your CRM for fundraising? How do you test marketing channels? How do you generate sales leads? How do you reach out to investors or get introductions? Collaboration sessions rather than lectures. We do collaboration sessions to work through challenges or get stuff done. We don’t lecture you. For example, in a collaboration session we might work on your positioning, review usability testing plans, improve your investor tracker, edit your cold sales emails, etc. When we say we work alongside you, we mean it. Vetted experts at your fingertips. Beta Boom has an extended network of vetted experts that we’ve worked with or our portfolio companies have worked with and loved. We do this so you don’t have to waste time searching for effective support, and can get things done while you build your permanent team. Here are examples of the kinds of experts that you’ll have access to, among others: Growth marketers that can help with setting up and running Google, Instagram, and Facebook ads; Lead generation experts that can get you qualified sales leads via email campaigns; Sales coaches that can help you set up your CRM and walk you through sales conversations; A near-shore engineering firm that specializes in APIs and securely handling large data sets.

We started Iterative to support founders like you. And the journey has just begun. We invest the full amount upon admission. We then work with the founders closely on their idea for 3 months during the cohort. After 3 months, they present to a select group of investors with the goal of raising a larger round of investment. Our vision Increase the GDP of Southeast Asia through entrepreneurship. Although not a perfect measurement, we believe people's lives improve when the GDP of their country or region increases. Academic research has shown the strongest stimulus for increasing GDP is entrepreneurship. We want to help. Our mission To build the most vibrant, supportive, and intellectually honest community of founders. The best way to help is leveraging our experience to support founders who in turn use their experience to help other founders. In the end, that looks like a community of founders helping other founders. Our story Brian Ma & Hsu Han Ooi at Brian's bachelor party working on the MVP for what would eventually become Weave (YC S14). The premise for the bachelor party was, we rent an Airbnb for the weekend and don't come home until we've launched a new product. Ian Ma & Hsu Ken Ooi in Hsu Han's basement on the first day of their first startup which would eventually become Decide and be acquired by eBay. They worked in that basement for 2 years. If you notice the jackets and sleeping bag in the lower right, it's because they didn't turn on the heat to save money. We’ve started from 0, multiple times. We’ve worked out of the proverbial and literal basement. We’ve been told by investors that our idea was too small, too big or just dumb. We’ve gone from thinking we would be the next Facebook to wondering what we were doing with our lives. We’ve been you.How we helpInvest USD $150K to $500K: This is the least important thing we do. We think of our investment as a show of commitment and to align incentives. There is no program fee. Note: We have made exceptions in the past but they are exceedingly rare. Work with you on your idea: As founders, we’ve started 3 companies (Decide, Weave, Divvy Homes), raised over $100M+ from the best investors (a16z, Index Ventures, etc) in Silicon Valley, sold 2 of them and the third is a unicorn and still going strong. Before each company, we’ve tried dozens of ideas that didn’t work. As a result, we learned a lot about what ideas are promising, how to validate them, and how to grow them. Typically, we can quickly tell you whether you’re trying to do too little or too much and where you should focus. If not, we can definitely tell you how to go about answering those questions. Help you with investors: We’ll introduce you to investors in Southeast Asia and Silicon Valley, but we’ll spend much more time on the following: Fundraising Guidance: Even with a strong pitch, you need to run a good process. We’ll teach you how to target the right investors and approach them in a way to maximize your chances of getting funded. Understanding & Negotiating Terms: If it’s your first time, understanding and negotiating the terms of an investment can be scary, especially in Southeast Asia, where the terms tend to have much more variability. We’ll help explain terms, call out abnormal ones, and give guidance on what’s typical right now. Developing Your Pitch: Most startup pitches are too long and emphasize the wrong points. We help you create a pitch that’s concise and highlights the things about your startup that are important to investors. We then help you workshop it by practicing with your batchmates then with investors who are friends of ours before finally pitching at Demo Day. How it worksWe run the program in batches: We believe this works better for everyone. It allows us to run the program more efficiently, and the startups probably learn just as much from each other as they do from us. However, we invest in companies on a rolling basis so we recommend you apply now. At the start of the batch: You will be assigned a lead partner responsible for your well being during the batch, based on your needs and their expertise. The first thing you and your lead partner will do is set goals for the end of the program. Where do you want to be at the end of the program? Typically this involves growing your primary metric 5% to 7% every week for the batch duration. Participate in events during the batch: Every week, you meet with your lead partner to give an update on your progress, discuss challenges, priorities, and next steps. Founders have told us they benefit from these sessions in 2 ways. First, they rarely have someone they can talk to openly, who has been where they are, and can empathize and give practical advice. Second, they come out of these meetings with clarity. When you’re the founder of an early-stage founder, you’re often so busy getting things done, and you rarely take a step back to think about whether you’re working on the right stuff. We find that the ability to prioritize and focus is the biggest difference between first and repeat founders. Demo day: After 12 weeks, we host a Demo Day where startups can present to a selected audience of investors to help kickstart their fundraising efforts. Demo Day marks the end of the batch. Stay for the community: Iterative doesn’t really end after 3 months. We continue to give advice and make introductions as long as our startups need - -and so does the informal network of Iterative companies. We think of our batch program as just orientation into the larger community.

The VC next door for your path into the world. We believe that anyone with the right idea, ambition and execution can build a category-defining company. Bringing 'Made in Germany' to the digital age Germany has a longstanding reputation for first-class engineering, for high quality products that have a global impact. We believe that the label 'Made in Germany' needs to arrive in the digital age. We believe that the brands shaping the future will be tech companies. And we believe that some of these tech companies can and must be built here. Since our foundation in 2013, we've been supporting daring entrepreneurs from the German-speaking regions in building global category leaders that will shape the decades to come. Investment focus We get in early - from Pre-Seed to Series A. Our main expertise lies in supporting early-stage tech startups in their first crucial decisions: from setting up a finance department to the first executive hires. With our industry network, hands-on approach and our supporting functions such as marketing and finance, we help to turn a business idea into a fully-fledged company. As a VC firm with people on the ground in Cologne, Berlin, and Munich we have a deep-rooted network in the German tech scene. That’s why we strongly focus our investment activities on Germany and the German-speaking regions. That doesn’t rule out deals elsewhere - but we certainly need extra conviction then. Track record We have supported companies on their journeys from Seed right through to IPO. 44 active Capnamic investments 350 million EUR of capital under management 900 million EUR of funds raised by our portfolio companies We believein entrepreneurs changing the world: But they can’t do it all on their own. That’s why we try to play our part by being sparring partners available at all times, by opening doors, or simply by having your back. in empathetic honesty: We have a ‘Bullshit Buzzer’ in our main meeting room for a reason. We’re going to be completely honest with the founders we work with, and they in turn can depend on our loyalty and support. We won’t leave your side when the first rain drops fall. in team, timing, technology: A strong team is the core of every successful startup. But for an idea to thrive, it also needs the right timing and a defensible technology. If you have the three Ts, there’s a good chance you’re at the start of something big. in making our network your network: Having started as a multi-corporate VC with LPs from some of the biggest national and international corporations, we value a strong network above most other things. in realness not the hype: Not every company that gets massive funding has the substance to last. We always form our own opinion and we even tend to get skeptical when things are hyped. But once we’re convinced of a business idea, we give it everything we’ve got. in sparring not steering: We do our best to be active partners, coaches and mentors on an equal footing. But at the end of the day, nobody knows their product, company and market better than the founders.

firstminute capital is a $320m sector-agnostic seed fund backed by 120 unicorn founders, including over 20 founders of $10bn+ businesses. Our General Partner Brent Hoberman is a double unicon founder. Yet, we are more than a fund. We’re an ecosystem of entrepreneurs from all over the world who, facilitated by firstminute capital’s team, come together to help one another, turn vision into reality and create the future. Our community is our edge. It is the source of the transformational support we offer to our partners who are warmly welcomed inside. An invitation into the firstminute capital community is secured by those with a special kind of spirit, not just a solid spreadsheet. A rare breed driven by a powerful characteristic we call, ‘Magnetic Ambition.’ Those with it often don’t recognise it in themselves, yet they are propelled forward by it, every day. We see it in their ability to capture hearts and minds with their vision, their belief and their commitment. When we find a founder with Magnetic Ambition, we open the door to the firstminute capital community and we give them everything they need. At your service What can founders expect from working with us? First of all, our 9-person investment team will fight for founders. Between us, members of the team have backed 10 unicorn startups at seed; we have IPO-ed companies; we have started companies; we have fundraised ourselves and we have failed and picked ourselves up again. So we are all here to help with advice, strategy brainstorming, product workshops, introductions to customers, raising a Series A or just being there for you in the tough times as well as the good times. If we can't help, we'll know someone in our extensive network who can and we'll make that intro. On top of the investment team, founders also get the whole "platform" team, which is another 11 people dedicated to helping founders scale their business and help with areas such as hiring and marketing. Our goal is to be the most helpful seed fund in Europe. We love to help founders build. Network effects At firstminute, we see ourselves as collaboration catalysts. We act to unlock the value our the community and bring our own expertise to bear when the time is right. Thanks to our 120 unicorn backers as well as a network of top CEO supporting us, firstminute has an extensive global reach. We like to bring on our investors - some of the top angels in the world - into our deals and as advisers to supercharge companies. firstminute's co-founder is Brent Hoberman, who after founding and exiting two unicorn startups himself created a network of companies under the 'Founders' umbrella. These include a world-class event series called Founders Forum as well as a consultancy, a recruitment firm, a charitable arm and Europe's largest incubator-accelerator. This whole ecosystem is part of our network, which helps with everything from sales introduction to finding top talent. We also have a large investor network to help with that Series A fundraise and beyond, having done deals with our friend at funds such as Tiger Global, Sequoia, Benchmark, a16z, Coatue and Atomico. Being part of our community, with our events and parties with some of the biggest names in tech and business, means you will be working with the best. We do an annual retreat for founders as well as regular drinks and dinners. Every year we hold our flagship summit in London which brings together firstminute investors, portfolio founders, partners from the top US and European multi-stage funds, and friends who are all bright lights in the tech community. Read more about that here.

We designed a unique VC model to serve student-founders. Wonder why? Student-entrepreneurs see the world through a unique lens. They are the most exposed to cutting-edge technology, innovations, and societal change. That’s why game-changing companies are consistently emerging from universities: Snapchat, Facebook, and Figma to list a few. Some people will argue you need 3 years of experience to start a company. They are wrong. With enough hard work and perseverance, you can start building a startup that will have an impact, today. If 25% of US-based unicorns are started at university, why couldn’t this be the same in the UK & EU? That’s why we exist, to select, support, and invest in high-potential founders. 10-100k investment: We know that small investments can make big differences. We help you get your product off the ground and set up your company. 12 weeks of intense support: We have our yearly accelerators, and hackathons. There’s no magic recipe but there some things you should know…We help you build your team, quickly test your ideas and create your company on solid ground. 80+ exports & mentors: A network is key when creating a successful company. We are building Initiator with the help of incredible experts, entrepreneurs and investors. Our network becomes yours.