The 2022 Virtual General Assembly Highlights
From 3rd - 6th of May, the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative (AWEC) successfully hosted its annual Virtual General Assembly to mark the end of Cohort 4 and celebrate their achievements.
Among the highlights and in keeping with this year’s theme on ‘Innovation’, the event hosted several facilitated workshops, masterclasses, panel discussions, and group activities that created a safe-space environment for out-of-the-box brainstorming and bold thinking, covering topics like ‘Leveraging Tech for SMEs’, ‘Solving Social Problems Through Business’ and ‘Innovating in the African Market’.
Below, we’re sharing highlights from the pitch competition. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we plan to share some actionable takeaways from each of their sessions!
The AWEC Pitch Competition
The AWEC Pitch Competition featured 15 AWEC Fellows who had pulled together a year’s worth of learning to create compelling business pitches without using slide decks. They pitched to a live panel of investors who are experts in identifying, accelerating, and funding African businesses ready for scale. The 15 finalists had the chance to win one of three cash prizes up to $1,000 USD, sponsored by The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE).
With businesses representing a diverse range of industries and sectors including education, food processing and healthcare, these African women entrepreneurs had just two minutes to clearly and confidently articulate their value proposition, growth plans, and capital needs.
Putting Your Best Pitch Forward!
While the competition gave Fellows a chance to apply all the skills and knowledge they had gained on the program, the main goal for both them and their peers (in the audience) was to receive immediate feedback and advice from experts in a safe learning space. And learn they did. Here’s some advice from the judges on how to make the most out of your pitch.
Frame your ‘ask’ from a milestone perspective. If you are seeking investment it is important to frame your request by articulating how the investment is going to help you to reach your milestones.
Expand what you think an “ask” is! Approaching an investor is not purely about asking for money. Investments are not just financial; in what other ways can investors add value to your company? If you get a no, ask for advice about strategic partnerships or introductions to other investors who might be better suited for your business.
Pick the right investor. Understand what kind of investors will align or fit with your business, do your homework and get to know them before you pitch!
Tell a great story to connect with the audience especially when you only have a few minutes to convey your business.
Having a viable business model is paramount. How will you make money, how will you reach your target market, how well do you understand the target market and how are investors going to make a return? If you don't have a business model to back it up you don’t have a business!
Why you? Investors invest in people, so you must be able to demonstrate what makes you better than anyone else and why they should put money in your business and not the business of your competitors.
Be memorable. Investors hear a LOT of pitches, so having a sticky tagline will help investors to remember your business and ultimately, will help him or her to sell it internally to their boss.
Slow down! This is tough when you have a short amount of time to get your pitch across but let’s be honest the reality is, that may be the only chance you get. Take a step back and take the time to help investors truly understand what it is you do.
Practice constantly. Get to the point where you are completely comfortable with your pitch. Practice in front of the mirror, with family and friends and even complete strangers. Keep at it until it feels like second nature.
Celebrating and Reflecting
Congratulations to our winners! Each of these finalists were memorable, communicated their value proposition clearly and effectively, and backed up their statements with data. (We had a numerical tie for second place, so we’ve awarded prizes to both of them!)
First: Uzoamaka Igweike, Loom Craft Chocolate
Second (tie): Titilope Adewusi, 9ijakids
Second (tie): Chineme Ugbor, Linden Global Learning
Audience Favorite: Faith Siele, Sifa Cakeland
And congratulations again to all of the members of Cohort 4 who persevered throughout another year marred by Covid, personal loss and hardship, and business setbacks. The hallmark of a successful founder is her ability to take action when others hesitate. All of us at AWEC look forward to witnessing the actions that the members of Cohort 4 continue to take to grow their businesses, create jobs in their communities, and contribute to the rise of Africa.