Petra bridges funding gap with maiden ‘start-up link-up’ programme

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Petra bridges funding gap with maiden ‘start-up link-up’ programme

In an effort to mitigate challenges associated with access to funding, Petra Trust Company Limited has held its maiden start-up link-up programme to bring together young entrepreneurs and potential investors for mutual benefit.

The event also presents a platform for start-ups 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 Company Limited Group, Chris Hammond, it has become necessary to push in efforts toward solving the common challenge faced by most start-ups – access to funding.

To him, there are investors who are ready to invest but sceptical 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 of Ghana. 10 years ago, we were a start-up ourselves. As Petra, this is the direction we want to go; we have started engaging with the funding and investor scene for start-ups in Ghana, and we realised in doing so there is some gap in support for young people starting their business these days.

“If you do not get enough support, you will run out of steam quickly. So, we saw the gap and decided to organise this event that can help them interact with investors and keep the conversation going – to have people who need money to meet people who have to invest, because investors also have the charge of looking 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 investors will look for before investing, but start-ups have to be able to meet some criteria. Those are some things I think are missing,” he said.

He noted that his outfit will continuously hold the event to support start-ups and 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 amount of interest shown – and also to expand the horizons.

Some start-ups which spoke to B&FT lauded the initiative, describing it as a game-changer in their efforts to seek funding.

The start-ups believe aside from presenting them with an opportunity to share ideas, network and connect with potential investors, the event will also put an end to the situation wherein their ideas are stolen and developed by some cruel investors.

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