How AfricanCrowd Works

The full path from a founder's application to a funded round, and what protects investors along the way.

F

For Founders

1

Create Your Project

Sign up and start a project. The guided intake covers your business model, market, team, financials, and capital needs. It takes about 20 minutes.

2

Submit for Review

Once you've completed the intake, submit it for review. Our team assesses your readiness using an AI-assisted process that evaluates clarity, viability, and investor-readiness.

3

Prepare & Raise

Approved founders prepare their campaign with our team, then raise. Your own network pledges the first share of the target, and from there the campaign opens to the wider investor community.

Start a project
I

For Investors

1

Discover Opportunities

Browse curated campaigns from African SMEs across sectors and geographies. Each listing has been reviewed for clarity and completeness before going live.

2

Evaluate with Confidence

Each campaign includes a detailed business overview, team profile, financials, and capital use plan. You get the information you need to make an informed decision.

3

Back a Campaign

Invest from P150. Your money is held in a separate trust account. If the round hits its target you become a shareholder through the nominee structure. If it misses, you are refunded automatically.

Create your investor account

The first campaigns are in preparation. Get notified when they open.

Pricing

Clear, simple pricing for both sides of the platform before you sign up.

For Founders

5% success fee on completed raises

You pay nothing unless your campaign succeeds.

For Investors

No platform fees for investors

Standard bank transaction fees apply when funds are transferred.

What to know before you register

  • The minimum investment is P150.
  • All or nothing: a business is funded only when its campaign reaches the full target. If it falls short, every investor is refunded automatically.
  • Founder network first: every campaign begins with pledges from the founder's own network, the first 20% of the target, before it opens to the wider community.
  • Investor funds are held in a separate trust account. AfricanCrowd's own accounts never hold investor money.
  • Shares are held through a nominee structure, so your stake is properly recorded and the business keeps a clean share register.
  • Compliance and verification checks run independently of the team that works with founders.

And the honest part: risk

Early-stage businesses fail more often than they succeed. If you invest, you could lose some or all of your money. Returns are never guaranteed, dividends are rare, and shares in private businesses are hard to sell. Invest only what you can afford to lose, and spread your investments across several businesses. AfricanCrowd does not give investment advice.

Why We Built This

Africa is home to bold, resilient entrepreneurs solving real problems. Yet access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers to growth. At the same time, investors searching for high-potential opportunities often don't know where to begin.

AfricanCrowd bridges this gap: a trusted digital space where founders and investors meet, with safeguards both sides can rely on. When a small business gets funded, the value lands close to home, in jobs, suppliers, and families.

Built for both sides

  • Transparent fundraising journeys for SMEs ready to grow.
  • Curated opportunities for investors searching for African growth stories.
  • A simple, digital way to connect capital with real businesses on the ground.
  • A structured readiness review before any campaign can raise.

Ready to get started?

It is free to join, whichever side of the marketplace you are on.

Apply to raise Join as an investor

Or get notified when the first campaigns open.