How can I apply?
Click the APPLY button on this website or follow this link.
What are your criteria?
First and foremost, we look to back agile entrepreneurs who are solving problems that we see as being truly fundamental to the advancement of Africa and Africans.
Beyond that, here are the criteria we look for in companies we engage:
- The company already has a product in the market with ideally some traction and/or revenue. Exclusive partnerships count.
- There is clear regional or continental growth potential given 1) the model and 2) the relevance of the product to different geographies.
- The product itself is not very capital intensive and can be scaled with investment in personnel, marketing and product dev along with strategic guidance and application of best practices.
- The specific needs of the company - in terms of where it could use support - aligns with specialties of our firm and/or geography. (We like startups based elsewhere in Africa who have strategically identified Morocco as a target next market!)
Requirement: the founders are either a) based in Africa or b) based elsewhere but their product is expressly focused on the African market and seeks to serve African citizens.
Is there a deadline to apply?
No. We accept applications all-year-round. However, we review applications and conduct interview processes in batches every quarter.
How will Outlierz provide value to my startup?
We invest more than just money. We believe that getting the right advice, mindset, connections and access to market at the seed stage is, most of the time, more valuable than just cash. Once you are in, we dedicate ourselves and our resources to help you grow.
Of course, we know you will need capital to keep growing, so we make an investment decision after working with you, validating our assumptions and goals together, and ensuring you have the chance to get to know us.
How long does it take to get investment?
Our interview process is rather straight forward - we try to keep it to less than a month. Once you have successfully passed the interview process, we start the Qualification Phase where we deploy our resources and work with you to help you grow your startup before we make an ultimate investment determination. This phase can take a few months to several depending on your execution capacity and speed.
Will you sign an NDA?
No. We think it is a waste of time at this stage and we believe in building a relationship with you on trust from Day One. Here's why.
