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Local Capital · Global Standards
Our flagship event returns in September with a room full of people who understand the lay of the land — the mentality and the psyche of people building real careers and funding real companies from Africa to the world.
Funding details, check sizes, and pitch deck critiques are shared in a room full of the people building, investing, and shaping what comes next
A founder you sit next to. A fund manager you meet reaching for the same drink at the bar.
An investor who’s tired of hearing the same pitch dressed up to sound like it was built somewhere else.
On September 9th, Founders, Funders & Friends returns for a conversation we’ve wanted to have since our very first edition, one that doesn’t get enough honest airtime in rooms like this.
Building for African markets without apologizing for them.
A conversation about raising and investing in African startups — from local investor bases and diaspora capital, to businesses that don’t have to pretend to be Silicon Valley to get funded.
Every founder in this region has sat across from an investor who wanted their business to look more like a startup from San Francisco than the market it was actually built for.
Every investor here has watched a founder chase a valuation benchmark that never made sense for where they operate — because that’s the only benchmark anyone handed them.
This edition is about saying that out loud, in a room built to actually talk about it.
No founder softening the conversation
For the first time, we’re putting the funders alone at the table. No founder on the panel to keep the conversation polite, no pitch to react to, just the people who write the checks, talking to each other and to the room about what “global standards” actually cost founders here, and what it would look like to fund this market on its own terms instead.
If you’ve ever wondered what investors say about your market when they think founders aren’t in the room, this is the closest you’ll get to hearing it firsthand.
This edition of Founders, Funders & Friends centers around:
Building for African markets without apologizing for them — and saying it out loud, in a room built to actually talk about it.
A conversation about raising and investing in African startups specifically from local investor bases, diaspora capital, and building businesses that don’t have to pretend to be Silicon Valley to get funded.
Every founder in this region has sat across from an investor who wanted their business to look more like a startup from San Francisco than the market it was actually built for.
Every investor here has watched a founder chase a valuation benchmark that never made sense for where they operate, because that’s the only benchmark anyone handed them.
This edition is about saying that out loud, in a room built to actually talk about it.
Hear directly from founders, investors, and operators who’ve been in the room at past editions of Founders, Funders & Friends.
Most conversations about capital in this region happen in two separate rooms.
Founders talking to each other about which investors to avoid.
Investors talking to each other about which founders are worth the risk.
Nobody’s in the room for both conversations at once.
Founders, Funders & Friends is built as an access-driven experience, not just an event. Inside the room, you’ll find:
Every conversation is designed to create access, honesty, and opportunity.
Every edition of Founders, Funders & Friends has sold out before the RSVP deadline. Seats are limited — and this is the one people have been asking for since we announced the all-investor format.
SOCIAL HOUSE, NAIROBI | 5:00PM EAT
Get your ticket today. Come hear what the funders and investors in this market actually think before everyone else does.