Frequently Asked Questions

General

AfricaBizFund is a crowdfunding platform for raising funds for SMEs. Funds are raised from a crowd of people willing to invest small amounts of cash in a business.
In the current economic climate, everyone knows how difficult it is to raise funds for SMEs ( especially startups ) from traditional sources (banks, venture capitalists, business angels, etc.). Crowd funding provides an alternative to traditional funding methods. As a crowd funding platform, AfricaBizFund offers a quicker and easier way for raising funds.
SME owners simply submit details of their businesses to us. Once a business is selected by our selection committee, it will immediately be included in the list of businesses available for crowd funding. Funders can search for and shortlist businesses that they would like to support. Payments are made by debit / credit card and Paypal.
AfricaBizFund can be used to raise funds for SMEs, any where in the world. It can also be used by people searching for SMEs to invest in.
AfricaBizFund has offices / partners in the United Kingdom and Africa.
Not all businesses submitted to AfricaBizFund are accepted. A business is approved for inclusion in our list of businesses only after it has been thoroughly checked and reviewed by our selection team and found to meet our tough selection requirements.

Investors

You need to be a member of AfricaBizFund. Once you have registered, log into and add funds to your account. Once you have funds on your account, you can invest in a business. Click on the above 'Fund A business' link and a list of businesses will be displayed. Click on the View business button to display full details of the business. To invest in the business, enter the amount in the Amount field which is in the right hand side of business details page and click on the Invest button. The amount you invest will be deducted from your account.
You can add funds using debit and credit cards like Mastercard, Visa etc and Paypal.
The minimum amount that can be invested is £10.00. The maximum amount is the amount left to be raised i.e. The Target Amount minus the Total Amount raised today.
The business owners only see the number and persons investing in to their business and also the amount of money collected. If the business ends successfully all the emails from the supporters will be given to the business manager.
Yes, the amount invested will be 'returned' to your AfricaBizFund account.
No, any money in your AfricaBizFund accounts must be invested in one or more businesses.

Business Owners

For your business to be listed in AfricaBizFund, you need to become a member by registering your profile. Once you have registered, enter details ( Title, Category, Description, Amount Required, Equity Offered, Fundraising Period, etc ) of your business. Make your business look as good as possible on the site by adding an image, giving rewards to investors, etc. If your business is approved by our selection committee, it will be included in the list of businesses shown in the site.
Your business will be listed for a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 90 days, depending on the fund raising period you set.
Of course! Use Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can also include the widget in other sites so that people are aware of your fund raising activity through AfricaBizFund.
No, when a deadline is set for a business there is no way back. You must stick to your plan.
The minimum amount is £1000. There is no maximum amount.
No, once your business has been listed, the target amount cannot be changed. Therefore, it is very important to think about how much you need before your business is listed.
No. You can only have one business listed in the site.
We charge a 5% fee from all businesses that raise funds through our site.
If the financial target is not met within the defined timeframe, funds pledged by investors are returned. This facilitates that backers commit their funds towards businesses that have sufficient financial backing to be delivered successfully.
The business keeps going until the time limit ends. Meaning a business can fund more money than it asks for. Good for you. People seem to like your idea.
No. Use business updates as a source for new information during the funding period. After that, you must stick to the plan.
Yes. Any money collected for the business will be given back to the funders. For transparency, the business will not be removed from our list of businesses but will be listed as cancelled.
You do. As the SME owner, you have the full responsibility to create and deliver the rewards to your investors. But remember, be honest and do not offer rewards that you cannot fulfil.
It is all up to you. Almost anything. Rewards will inspire investment. Remember your investors can help you with spreading the word around about your business.