Two hours, a team of experienced women, and no invoice. The Milan nonprofit turns professional networks into focused mentoring for founders who need a different view of their business.
The Jack Ma Foundation’s African flagship gives ten founders $1.5 million each year. The sharper invention is everything around the cheque: a public, multilingual test of who can explain, prove and scale a business across 54 countries.
From Nando’s pepper farmers to businesses turning waste into products, the South African firm works on the awkward middle of impact investing: getting good ideas ready for money, then checking what the money changes.
The Nigerian venture builder once squeezed into a co-founder’s flat. Today, its work spans farm businesses, founder training and the patient business of making young companies ready for money.
The African founder alliance pairs small investment checks with relationships built to last. A test of that promise came when two members stopped trusting each other.