Dream VC launches two programmes for aspiring African investors

Dream VC has launched two new programmes, Launch into Venture Capital (LIVC) and Investor Accelerator, to train more than 50 future investors for Africa.

Dream VC is an investor-accelerator, community-driven education platform founded by Cindy Ai and Mark Kleyner in 2021. It provides programmes centred around venture capital (VC) across Africa's startup ecosystems. More than 1,000 people applied for its inaugural free fellowship programme; only 30 people were selected.

Some of these fellows have gone on to join VC firms such as LoftyInc, Oui Capital, Ajim Capital, Akribos Capital, Lateral Capital, and Counder. And others have started angel networks and made their first investment in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, Mozambique and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

This year's programmes – the LIVC and Investor Accelerator — will run simultaneously for 14 weeks (June to September) and 20 weeks (June to October), respectively.

They are not free like last year's fellowship, but they are still heavily subsidized, Mark told Benjamindada. At 10% less than the actual cost of the over 500-hour content, the LIVC costs $1,000 and Investor Accelerator costs $5,000.

"Scholarships and bursaries are available for both programmes, with several 100% coverage scholarships available too. We are still in conversation with several corporations about subsidizing the cost further. We urge them [applicants] to demonstrate their passion in the application process, which is designed to find the most passionate (rather than just 'wealthy') individuals", Mark said.

"The more applicants we welcome, the higher the likelihood we will be able to give out more scholarships and more bursaries to those who need them".

Launch into Venture Capital (LIVC)

The LIVC is a foundational crash course into VC for young working professionals with less than five years of full-time work experience.

Fellows who participate in Dream VC's LIVC will:

• Get access to live and recorded weekly training sessions
• Get project assignments emulating real work done by VC analysts and associates
• Partake in engaging workshops, interact with actual African-focused VC analysts and associates in relaxed networking mixers
• Benefit from comprehensive career development modules specifically on how to break into the VC industry
• Get access to a dedicated mentorship network through a matching system that pairs inbound LIVC fellows with former Dream VC graduates. This will allow the new cohort to foster ties, build connections and overcome existing challenges in the space.

Apply now for the Launch into Venture Capital programme. The deadline is May 1, 2022, at 11:59 pm GMT. But the deadline for the early bird application opportunity, with a slightly higher likelihood of acceptance, is on April 1.

Investor Accelerator

The Investor Accelerator programme aims to help launch (or accelerate) the seasoned careers of experienced operators, founders, working professionals and African enthusiasts interested in making a foray into VC as investors, startup advisers or ecosystem builders.

Apply now for the Investor Accelerator programme. The deadline is May 1, 2022, at 11:59 pm GMT

Fellows who participate in the programme will:

• Be taught actively with multiple live sessions every week — evenings and weekends
• Get access to over 800 hours of content spread across strategic block-based learning
• Get access to top industry leaders like general partners and executives in VC firms actively investing in or based out of African markets
• Get to hone their investing chops by reviewing active deals, drafting investing memos, and presenting them monthly at a mock investment committee meeting.

Dream VC co-founder and programme director Cindy Ai said: "At the end of the day, working in countries like Nigeria or Kenya, founders across the continent often are faced with major obstacles — and there is still a lot that must change about perceptions of investing or building startups in Africa. Investors need to be much more hands-on and add a lot more value than just money to build sustainable scalable businesses. And this can’t be done without including and enabling local leaders to be more active in the VC space".

Dream VC has ambitious plans to enable the next wave of aspiring investors by building the communities, educational infrastructure, and environment they need to thrive and add maximum value to startups in multiple African startup ecosystems.