Many great business minds but few are investment ready – Christoph Pleitgen

Ismail Akwei

The Managing Director of Westerwelle Foundation, Christoph Pleitgen has stated that many start-ups in developing countries are not investment ready but strive to obtain funding.

He said on The Qonversation that funding is essential but before they get to the level of interacting with investors, there is the need to fulfil some basic requirements to be investment ready.

“There’s a lot of heavy lifting that needs to be done. And whether that is soft skills in terms of how people present themselves, whether it is being able to even speak the investors’ language, that’s where we come in. We help people to get a better grasp of how to address the question of what’s your mission, what’s your story, what’s your vision, what’s your strategy, what’s your go-to-market, what’s your proposal, and how are you thinking in terms of pricing, terms of business model? What are your goals?” he said.

However, Christoph Pleitgen said he was impressed with some start-ups in East Africa where young entrepreneurs have great business ideas that are impact-driven and empower their communities.

“I’m just back from a trip to East Africa where I have been very, very impressed with the tenacity, the creativity, the great business minds, the great business ideas that people have and how impact-driven they are. People want to make a difference. People want to give back to their community. They want to help to empower the environment. So women there want to help clean up the environment. There’s a real sense of doing something good not just for themselves, but for the people around,” he said on The Qonversation.

He mentioned some success stories in the East Africa region where entrepreneurs have an understanding of problems that are affecting their local communities and are using technology to address them.

Watch this exciting episode of The Qonversation hosted by Ismail Akwei.