ARM set to build next set of African unicorns

The Assets & Resource Management Holding Company (ARMHoldCo) says it is set to build the next set of African unicorns.

Speaking on Tuesday, in Lagos, during an event themed “building the next set of African unicorns”, Jumoke Ogundare, chief executive officer of ARM, said the future of financial services is fintech.
She said technology continues to transform fintech as startups are growing more agile and efficient in innovating quickly.

The event was organised ahead of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator programme slated to begin in August.

The accelerator programme is a partnership between ARM and Techstars, an American seed accelerator, focused on providing funding and support to fintech and Proptech start-ups who are poised to use innovation in solving problems across Africa.

Ogundare said to be at the forefront of change and support startups is the basis for ARM’s collaboration with Techstars to birth the accelerator programme.

She said the collaboration will contribute to the country’s economic growth in the areas of employment, reaching the “unbanked” people and promoting social development.

According to her, startups that the firm supports in the accelerator programme would have access to ARM’s market, network and build a platform where they can develop capacities.

Speaking on the dearth of female founders in the industry, Jumoke said that ARM through the accelerator programme is building an ecosystem where other female founders can support upcoming women startups.

She advised female founders to build their confidence and believe in their vision while having successful women as mentors to help bridge the gap.

Speaking about the partnership with Techstars, Ina Alogwu, director for digital transformation in ARM, said the firm is a global accelerator company that has run 50 of such programmes in 35 cities in 14 countries across the world.

Ina said the firm has a portfolio of about 3,000 companies that have passed through their various programmes worldwide and invested $21.3 billion, adding that the startups that passed through Techstar programmes typically raise on average about $1 million.

Speaking further, he pointed out that 12 startups in the accelerator programme will get a collective $120,000 in investment and equity. They will also get access to over 7,000 mentors in the Techstars network and 20, 000 global investors in the same network.

“So, it is not just an investment that you get. You get access to a network and a company that can give you immediate access to an existing customer base and help with any regulatory challenges that you may have. So joining the programme is not only about equity investment, but you get access to other things,” Ina noted.

Maelle Gavet, chief executive of Techstars, said the firm has been active in Africa since 2011.

She said that having seen an increasing number of African founders applying to their programmes, they decided to establish a presence on the continent.