Job Openings at Founders Factory

The Role

• We are looking to hire a Senior Investment Associate to support our efforts in sourcing and qualifying early-stage startups in Africa.
• The successful candidate will co-lead our ecosystem engagement efforts to source and identify promising startups, as well as lead the investment process which culminates into Investment Committee approvals. 
• The candidate must have a good understanding of technology and business models and have existing networks and exposure to the startup world within Africa.

Responsibilities:

Sourcing new investment opportunities and leading ecosystem engagement efforts:

• Support in developing and maintaining an active partnership referral network within the African Tech ecosystem 
• Conduct market analysis and keep up to speed with sector trends and market performance
• Lead deep dives, industry analysis, and market mapping. Source, identify, and evaluate new investment opportunities - startups and founders 
• Attending, participating, and hosting industry events to promote FFA venture programs, working together with the rest of the sourcing team.

Screening,  Qualifying, and presenting opportunities at the Investment Committee - Lead on converting investment opportunities 

• Take responsibility for all aspects of the sourcing process (initial screening, negotiation, qualification process, due diligence, and stakeholder socialisation) 
• Conduct thorough opportunities assessment, including market and competitor analysis, technical due diligence, impact modelling, and financial model review
• Prepare documentation to present and sell new investment opportunities internally and to the Investment Committee

Portfolio Support and monitoring:

• Work with the portfolio and ventures team in strategic planning for company growth, business model design, and other critical support areas
• Support in reporting expectations, including collecting and analyzing data from portfolio companies to feed to the portfolio team
• Join internal board meetings

Candidate Profile:

• Have a minimum of 3  years of experience in a similar venture capital fund leading the end-to-end investment process 
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, able to build a network, source companies, and develop relationships with top African entrepreneurs and other tech/entrepreneurship eco-system players in key markets across Africa 
• An analytical mind able to qualify and understand different concepts and business models
• Independently be able to form views around investment decisions, make recommendations, and present deals to senior colleagues and the investment committee
• Be proficient in Excel and comfortable manipulating data and building financial models
• Knowledge and experience building financial models
• Extensive knowledge, enthusiasm for, and interest in technology and start-ups
• A self-starter who thrives in an autonomous role, with excellent prioritisation, self-organisation, and execution skills

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The Role

• We are looking for an Investment Manager to join our team. You need to have experience conducting rigorous end-to-end due diligence processes and the ability to assess, co-develop, and articulate the commercial potential of portfolio companies to reach scale in Africa and beyond.

Key responsibilities

Start-Up Qualifying & Deal Closing:

• Generate a pipeline of deals across the continent in line with FFA’s investment thesis;
• Support in the evaluation and qualification of deals throughout internal investment processes;
• Support and/or lead (where applicable) the due diligence process for ventures to be considered by our Investment Committee (IC). This includes evaluation of the market opportunity, business model, traction and commercial viability, impact analysis, valuation assessment and exit strategy;
• Co-present the investment point of view at the Investment Committee forum, including perspectives on the venture’s north star and game plan to win;
• Lead internal sub-sector deep dives that contribute toward our knowledge base on various business models across the continent.

Investment Strategy and Readiness:

• Conduct an assessment of each start-up to establish their readiness status and capacity to raise external capital
• Lead FFA's portfolio support by working closely with founders to define the investment strategy for startups and ensuring that FFA support is aligned with the ability to raise external capital
• Work with portfolio businesses to make sure they are engaging external investors with the right materials at the right time

Portfolio Performance: 

• Track and evaluate the overall performance of the FFA portfolio of companies

Investment Ecosystem: 

• Develop and maintain relationships with investors through meetings, events, and updates; Help prepare for and organise FFA investor events, including our investment showcase days, with support from the FFA events team

Ideal candidate should be/have:

• Deep passion for tech and start-ups and a hunger to learn
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience in venture capital, and at least 7 years total work experience in relevant adjacent industries such as private equity/venture capital/investment banking / financial advisory/management consulting
• Experience in deal structuring (legal terms) and execution
• Proven track record of synthesising insights and developing successful business strategies aligned with market trends
• Experience working with early-stage (pre-seed to Series A) start-ups in Africa
• Relationship with a network of investors, VCs, and angel investors in Africa is an advantage
• Highly organised individual, capable of managing parallel work streams while maintaining an effective workflow and communication system
• Outstanding people skills, humility, hustle, and resilience
• Ability to travel frequently