Achieve bridges startup funding gap with Maiden ‘Start-Up Link-Up’ program

In an effort to mitigate challenges associated with access to funding, Achieve, a mobile application offered by Ghanaian-owned Petra Securities Limited, has held its maiden start-up link-up program to bring together young entrepreneurs and potential investors for mutual benefit.

The event also presents a platform for startups to expand their network, build their business, birth great ideas, and create thriving connections by interacting with investors and other business leaders who have successfully raised funds for their businesses.

According to the Deputy Managing Director of Petra Securities, Chris Hammond, it has become necessary to push in efforts towards solving the common challenge faced by most startups, a situation that pulls them back in the entrepreneurial ecosystem – access to funding.

To him, there are investors who are ready to invest but are skeptical about which start-up is worth investing in and so the way forward is to create an enabling environment, where both can interact.

“We are interested in the start-up ecosystem in Ghana. 10 years ago, we were a start-up ourselves. We have started engaging with the funding and the investor scene for start-ups in Ghana and we realized that in doing so, there is some gap in the support for young people these days starting their businesses.

If you do not get enough support, you will run out of steam quickly. So, we saw the gap and decided to organize this event that can help them interact with investors and to keep the conversation going. To have people who need money to meet people who have money to invest. This is because, investors also have the charge to look for appropriate people to invest in,” he said.

Position yourselves ready

Mr. Hammond advised that Startups must position themselves to put across readiness when trying to access funds for their businesses.

He said that though access to funds is a challenge, many start-ups according to investors do not seem ready and usually fail to meet the criteria.

“Getting funding is hard but also, I think a lot of our entrepreneurs are not quite ready. So, there are certain things that investors will look for before investing but start-ups must be able to meet some criteria. For them to design their processes and their start-ups to meet those criteria. Those are things I think are missing,” he said.

He noted that his outfit will continuously hold the event to support start-ups and to enable them to share ideas and generate innovations to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

He added that though the maiden event made room for about 30 technology-related start-ups, they hope to increase the number subsequently given the massive number of interests shown, and to expand the horizons.