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Startup database aims to accelerate African investment

Starting a new business can be one of the most difficult things to do, so business owners need all the help they can get. That is exactly why South African entrepreneurs Paul Cartmel and Nic Haralambous created a database for startups.

With the launch of AfricanUp, they aim to curate a list of startups across Africa so that they can connect with like-minded people, attract interest from potential investors, and serve as a little bit of advertising.

“There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when launching a platform like AfricanUp. Our goal isn’t to build a revolutionary technology business. Our goal is to connect startups, founders, investors and accelerators from around the world,” says Haralambous.

Cartmel explained the idea behind the website, saying that there are a number of ways in which startups can reach out to interested parties.

“On AfricanUp, both start-ups and investors have the opportunity to tell their own stories, recommend their peers, and ultimately grow their profiles and reputations. There are currently four main categories through which these conversations are facilitated: Startups, Accelerators, Investors and Tech Hubs.”

He realised that there was a problem when potential investors were searching for African startups to invest in.

“One of the major requests that I get from investors and accelerators around the world when discussing technology in Africa is for ‘the great startups’. This made me realise that there is a search problem in the technology startup space (ironically) and I wanted to create a platform to help startups and investors spend less time searching for each other, and more time building great things together.”

The website takes on a tiled design, where you can select the category and country for the startups that you want to see. The results include the company’s logo, how many people have up-voted them, how many people follow them, and there is also a share button. Clicking on a start-up, it takes you to company profile page, which includes a short description and contact information.

“In a sense, this is a proudly African way of strengthening businesses – by strengthening the connections in the entire eco-system,” Cartmel concluded.

[Source – AfricanUp]

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