Kenya-based venture capital fund,\u00a088mph, is expecting a flood of applications from South Africa-based tech start-ups looking for cash in the final week before the company’s 2012 deadline of 15 December.<\/p>\n
88mph makes investments in early stage mobile-web companies targeting the African market, focusing purely on ideas with potential to scale across Africa.<\/p>\n
The fund launched in\u00a0Nairobi in 2010, having invested $180,000 in seven Kenyan firms before repeating the process again in August 2011.<\/p>\n
The fund moved to Cape Town in November and 88mph programme manager, Sylvia Brune told BusinessTech that it has already\u00a0received\u00a0approximately 200 applications, led by individuals hoping to crack the e-commerce space.<\/p>\n
Brune added that, from past experience, the bulk of the applications were still due come in during the last week.<\/p>\n
Regarding the company’s name, in the cult sci-fi film, Back to the Future, the Delorean was required to reach a speed of 88mph before it could go back in time.<\/p>\n
A successful pitch could see companies receive between $15,000 and $100,000, said Brune, adding that there was no fixed number of ideas the privately-funded\u00a0accelerator\u00a0would look to support.<\/p>\n
As a percentage, of those ideas\u00a0which\u00a0had already been submitted, Brune said that between 5-10% showed “good potential”.<\/p>\n
The program lead described Cape Town as being “a sponge for creative types,” while also describing South Africa’s tech market as “advanced” compared with other African markets.<\/p>\n
Following the application\u00a0deadline, teams will be chosen and notified on 15 January 2013, with the program set to start on 1 February 2013.<\/p>\n