How can African Startups be Better at Digital Marketing?

Aleph, the global company that powers digital marketing in emerging markets, has partnered with Startup Wise Guys, one of the world’s most experienced startup accelerators and one of its most active investment funds. The partnership will see experts from Httpool and Ad Dynamo, both  Aleph Group companies, provide cutting edge insights and technological support around digital marketing, for all participants in Startup Wise Guys acceleration programs in the African continent. The new partners are set to kick off with the first batch of startups entering SWG’s new SaaS accelerator, beginning in February of 2022.

Africa’s startup and venture capital investment scene has continued to heat up in 2021, with venture deals this year expected to exceed €3 billion on the continent for the first time. Yet there remains a pronounced lack of support at the earliest stages, with seed-stage investment accounting for only 6% of deals in 2020. A bottleneck that remains to be tackled is the support in capacity-building and initial traction that accelerators can provide. Young talent emerging out of the African continent often don’t have an address where they can find experienced advice on how to build successful companies that can scale globally.

With the new partnership, Startup Wise Guys is bolstering its programs, allowing participating startups access to the cutting edge marketing capabilities that are already being used by some of Aleph’s most digitally savvy clients including Kilo. Health, Klarna, Believe, Bolt, and Wolt. Batch participants will have firsthand access to experts from the digital marketing company and receive individualized consultations to help in the macro and the micro – from the concept of marketing and how to employ it at a startup, to tactical advice on maximising ROI from their budgets. The partnership symbolises the first venture by Aleph to support startup communities in Africa, as the group is looking to establish itself as a long-term partner for startup and technology companies.

“African entrepreneurs are demonstrating tremendous energy and potential. What is sometimes lacking, is the tool to empower them to reach their highest potential. We believe that Startup Wise Guys is uniquely positioned to make a real contribution to founders working on digital startups, especially in the B2B segment. Within this remit, we could not think of a better strategic and operational partner than Aleph. Startup failure is often simply the lack of sales, and Aleph’s insights will help participating startups market and sell their products better. We can’t wait to start contributing towards a more robust ecosystem to support African startup founders,” said Cristobal Alonso, Global CEO at Startup Wise Guys.

Startup Wise Guys’ new African SaaS accelerator is scheduled to launch in the beginning of February of 2022. Selected startups will receive up to a €65,000 ticket in exchange for up to a 12% equity stake, with follow-on investment opportunities. In addition to rigorous startup fundamentals such as business development, fundraising, product development, and pitching, each startup will now also gain access to the digital marketing expertise of Aleph.

“We’re excited to meet African startups. These are the people that will shape the future of the continent, and perhaps the world, with their products and their vision. And we want to help them from day one, building on our expertise and taking from our experience working with startups in Europe and Asia. This way we can help African startups scale and grow to achieve global success,” said Marius Ivanovas, CRO at Httpool, an Aleph company.

About Startup Wise Guys

Startup Wise Guys is Europe’s most experienced B2B startup accelerator and one of the most active investors of early-stage startups. Founded in Tallinn in 2012, SWG has helped more than 500 founders bring their startups to the next level. To date, Startup Wise Guys has made more than 250 startup investments, seen six major exits, and achieved an overall startup survival and success rate above 77%. With significant additional presence in Namibia, the Nordics, Poland, Ukraine, and the Balkans, SWG aims to become the go-to accelerator program for any B2B startup looking to scale globally. Startup Wise Guys was named Hottest Accelerator at the 2021 Europas Startup Awards.

About Aleph

Aleph Group is a leading global enabler of digital advertising, serving as a crucial link at the core of the global digital ecosystem by connecting the largest digital platforms with thousands of advertisers and billions of consumers in emerging and underserved countries. We have commercial and, in many cases, exclusive agreements with over 25 of the leading digital platforms, including: Twitter, Meta, Microsoft, Snapchat, TikTok, Spotify and Twitch. Through these relationships, we provide digital platforms with a sustainable and scalable way to monetize their advertising inventory in emerging countries at little additional cost and complexity. We combine these relationships with an extensive global footprint and an end-to-end digital advertising solution that enables advertisers in 77 countries across 43 different currencies to reach close to 3 billion consumers and maximize their digital advertising potential.

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