What VC firms in Cape Town are getting right

ONE of the regular complaints I hear as a financial journalist is that South Africa doesn't have a culture of investing in start-ups or promising entrepreneurs.

And yet venture capitalists argue there simply aren't enough businesses in which to invest; that they are crying out for investment opportunities.

Read the rest of this column on Fin24.com

UK start-ups face VC crisis...

Just 319 million pounds have been raised this year for venture investments in the U.K. In all of 2008, funds raised more than 1.3 billion pounds for start-up investments, according to BVCA. The number of deals completed by investors has also fallen to 91 for the first six months from 168 for the same period in 2008. The number of deals completed has dropped in the last four quarters.

Read the rest of the story here on Bloomberg

First project

Hi guys

Thanks to those who took the time to join the Rival Pioneers Facebook group.
I’ve got some good news - we’ve got our first Entrepreneurs Focus Group (EFG) lined up for October and its a goodie.

The idea behind the EFGs - which we are aiming to run at least once a month - is to provide a platform for entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers to troubleshoot challenges facing a business, exchange ideas and ultimately build a professional network.

We’re kicking off in October with a start-up financial services business which is affiliated to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). We are looking for 20 participants in Johannesburg to spend 3 90-minute sessions discussing strategy and product development for this business.

Dates and venue to be confirmed next week but will be within 20 minutes of Sandton either which way. It will be an evening session - 6pm to 7:30pm.

There are no pre-requisites for signing up for the EFG but we are looking for entrepreneurs who are focused on developing themselves and want to contribute.

If your idea of learning is to sit back and listen to others talk then this is not for you - if you want a funky, informative couple of sessions to test your brain then you’re coming to the right place. Think of it like The Apprentice - only a little classier and you don’t get fired!

We also are aiming to have our electronic learning platform up and running for the participants to be able to exchange ideas beyond the focus group.

Delegates who complete the three sessions will receive:

• An attendance certificate
• Access to e-learning platform
• A fantastic opportunity to network

In the meantime - if you’d like to register your interest for the EFG please drop me an e-mail (marc@rival.co.za) with name, e-mail address and a cellphone number and we’ll confirm venue, dates and times.

If you have a business or business concept that you would like a team to troubleshoot then feel free to drop me a mail as well.

Our blog should be up and running some time next week and I’ll post a link to it but in the interim you can follow us either via the Facebook group or via Twitter: http://twitter.com/rivalpioneers

Cost

Zip, zilch, FREE, Mahala…
… yip that’s right - there is no charge to participate in the group. We want people sharing ideas and we want you telling everyone else about this cool entrepreneurship initiative so that by the end of the year we have a couple hundred young professionals vying for places on one of our EFGs and taking these skills out into the workplace.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,

Marc Ashton