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In the field of technological industries, successes are often spectacular and international expansion is rapid. Yet, entering foreign markets is not always easy. Increasingly, investment funds and accelerators are offering to train entrepreneurs in the internationalization of their business.
Partech is one of the best-known investment funds in global tech, and in particular in the African digital industry. The fund will launch in February Chapter 54, an accelerator for European companies wishing to enter the African market.
« Each year, we are going to select about ten companies which already have a certain number of references in Europe and which have the idea that to be successful in Africa, they will have to twist their operational model. How I sell, how I pay, how I get paid, how I recruit. And in fact, we will offer them sessions of mentoring, coaching, as well as a whole ecosystem of partners, which is something very focused on operational success. “, explains Vincent Prévi, general manager of Chapter 54.
This program is aimed at so-called “scale-up” companies, those that have crossed a certain threshold of success. It is largely financed by KfW, the German development bank. Partech will rely for training on a network of African professionals.
« We have modules that will be dedicated to the difficulties of incorporating a business in Africa, dedicated to the difficulty of recruiting there, and we have set up a pool of mentors to support and coach them on these subjects. »
But Europeans are not the only ones who need to learn about African markets. Companies on the continent have the same needs. In Kinshasa, Sidonie Latère runs Kobo Hub, the most famous accelerator in Central Africa. Kobo Hub proposes to support foreign companies on the Congolese market. “ Currently we are supporting an Angolan startup, a kind of “Uber eat” which targets the Congolese market. We help them settle in the DRC. »
A work that is not limited to legal aspects or to the teaching of local particularisms. ” We allow these startups to know the environment. We provide them with market research. »
Sidonie Latère also supports Congolese tech companies in their international expansion. And even if in the DRC these companies are modestly targeting the neighboring French-speaking markets, nothing prevents us from considering that they may one day be interested in the European market. Partech and Kobo Hub may in the future train African bosses looking for European outlets.