Y-Combinator for Africa?

Published October 22, 2008 @ 01:43PM PT

I've been closely watching the growth of early-stage tech funder Y-Combinator looking for ideas about how to apply their model, which provides promising startups small amounts of seed capital and intense mentorship and networking in anticipation of further investment to developing world and/or social sector models.

Ushahidi founder Erik Hersman (a 2008 Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow) wrote a great post about the "problem with seed capital in Africa" on his WhiteAfrican blog a few days ago in which he suggests something like the Y-Combinator model to spur technology startup innovation in Africa. Having grown up in and currently spending much of his professional life focused on East Africa, Erik has some great thoughts on the subject, particularly highlighting the fact that while individual efforts (like those of Jonathan at Appfrica) are driving in this direction, the capital community interested in this type of enterprise needs to come together to make it happen.

This resonates with what I've heard over and over about the Y-Combinator model, which is that the actual dollars invested in the company are far less valuable than the density of the social network the Y-Combinator team offers to its projects. My question is what is the parallel in the African technology scene - or any social enterprise model? Who are the connections that African tech or other social startups need to make it work?

Share this Post

Comments (1)

I'm a YC alum myself, and have spent a small amount of time in southern Africa. I think the idea is fantastic. If you'd like to chat sometime about it shoot me an email.

-Mike

Posted by Mike Christoff on 10/23/2008 @ 03:40AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Mike
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.