Month: April 2022

Categories
Equifam Spotlight

Equifam Spotlight: Gladys Ajogwu

How long have you been part of the Equifam and what’s your current role?

I’ve been part of Equifam for about 6 months now and I work with the venture team as a Venture Support Associate.

What does your job entail?

My job involves everything from the pre-listing stage to the post listing.
For the pre-listing stage it involves due diligence meeting ensuring the viability of businesses to be listed. For the post listing stage it involves investment memo detailing the business, it’s market and the rationale behind the listing. I also provide venture support for listed businesses around their needs as well as reports and other information.

What’s your day-to-day like?

My day-to-day involves meetings, follow up calls and report writing.

What would you say motivates you to open slack everyday?

What makes me open slack everyday, outside the need to keep up with work related information and revert or escalate things, amebo is the next reason I open slack ooo. There is never a dull moment with Equifam, I need to know who is on the table for drags,lol

How has your career grown since joining GetEquity?

Before GetEquity, the Venture space was not one I was familair with. Hence, there was a whole lot of learning on the job for me, at the start some things were not clear. Six months in and my understanding of the space has improved as well as my interest. It also provides a platform to meet other people who outside just getting the job done is invested in making sure I understand and have clarity of purpose.

What is your favourite thing about working at GetEquity?

Favourite thing about working here is the fact that I can hit anybody up from the founding team to other colleagues and get response and another is the work environment. GetEquity knows how to ensure that outside work, the team has fun also.

What’s something you’re planning on doing in the next year that you’ve never done?

I’ve always wanted a beach house experience but haven’t gotten around that yet

Before we go, tell us a fun fact about you

Fun fact about me, hmmmm let me think. It will be my singing prowess but my friends argue that I cannot.

Categories
Using GetEquity

Using GetEquity: Funding your wallet

In this article, we will be breaking down the process around funding your wallet

In order to fund your wallet, all your KYC documents must have been uploaded by you and verified by our verification team.

For a review on what we ask, please refer to the first article in the series here.

You can get started with the process from two different sections from your app. You can click on the “Fund your wallet” directly on the overview page or you can navigate to the wallet page and select “Fund your wallet” as seen in the images below.

There are two different ways you can fund your wallet on GetEquity. You can choose to fund with:

  • Preferred Currency (any currency currently available on the platform like naira, dollar, etc) through a bank transfer or a debit card.
  • Fintech Wallets (like ThePeer which connects different Fintech apps together eg. Paga to Eversend, Eversend to GetEquity)

Funding With Preferred Currency

This funding option means you can fund your wallet in multiple currencies available on the GetEquity platform.

Step 1: Select the “Fund your wallet” option as seen in the image above

Step 2: Select the currency in which you would like to fund from the dropdown. Depending on the currency chosen, you might be prompted further to choose a method of funding either through a debit/credit card, wire transfer to a virtual account, mobile money etc

Step 3: Input the amount you are looking to fund in dollars. The equivalent amount in the currency chosen in step 2 will be displayed on the page alongside the conversion rate.

Step 4: Select the method in which you want to pay either through a debit card or bank transfer. Depending on the currency chosen, not all methods will be available once you get to this stage.

Step 5: Confirm your transaction details inclusive of amount chosen and transaction fees attached and select “Confirm Transaction” at the bottom of the page in order to fund using the Flutterwave payment gateway

From this point, you will be navigated to the flutterwave payment gateway where you would fill in any required details dependent on your method of funding. For example, card details, mobile money details etc

Funding with Fintech Apps

You can also fund your wallet with fintech apps like The Peer which is currently LIVE on the platform. With The Peer, you can fund your wallet from any other business/fintech wallet currently available on the gateway.

Please note payments with the Peer only exist for naira or dollar currencies. Once you select either of these currencies, it takes you to the next step below:

Step 1: Input the amount you are looking to fund in dollars or naira

Step 2: Select the “Fund with Fintech wallets” option as seen in the image below


Step 3: Confirm your transaction details inclusive of amounts chosen and transaction fees attached and select “Confirm Transaction” at the bottom of the page in order to fund.

Step 4: Select the fintech wallet you intend to fund from.

From this point you will be navigated to the Thepeer payment gateway where you would fill in any required details.

You can reach us at support@getequity.io if you encounter any issues along the way.

Our next article covers the process around purchasing tokens on GetEquity and what these tokens mean and how you hold this Equity.

Categories
Using GetEquity

Using GetEquity: Signup and KYC

This article is the first part of the ‘Using GetEquity’ series where we break down the process of setting up your profile, making your first investment and understanding what your investment means.

In this article, we will be breaking down the signup and KYC process.

Step 1: Download the mobile app from either the Google Playstore or IOS Store or navigate to the web app on any browser here or simply search for GetEquity

Step 2: Get started on creating an account by filling in your preferred email and password. Please ensure the email is active as you will be required to confirm it using a 4-digit PIN later that only you should ever know for your safety. Also, confirm your password and select “Continue”

Step 3: Fill in your basic information which consists of First Name, Last Name, Your preferred username, phone number and other details

Step 4: Enter your address details which consist of Home Address, Country, State and City

Step 5: Email Verification. This is the first step in our verification process and is required to verify the email used in the signup process. A six-digit code will be sent to your email which must be used to verify your account. Please note to check your spam also for if you don’t receive it in your inbox

OUR KYC PROCESS STARTS FROM HERE. HOWEVER, YOU CAN SKIP THE FOLLOWING STEPS IN ORDER TO BROWSE THROUGH THE APP AND CHECK OUT THE COMPANIES WE HAVE LISTED

YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PERFORM ANY ACTION ON THE APP IF THE FOLLOWING STEPS ARE NOT COMPLETED

Step 6: Take a selfie. At this point, you are required to take a selfie immediately using your phone or laptop camera. This is to ensure the following:

  • a human is signing up and not a robot.
  • to verify who you are which will be compared to your provided ID which is next on the verification list.

Please note you can’t upload a picture from your device. The selfie has to be taken as you are at the moment of signup.

Step 7: Upload a government issued ID card. You are required to upload a CLEAR coloured picture of any government-issued ID dependent on your country of current stay or birth. This includes but is not limited to International Passport, National ID, Driver’s License

Step 8: Set your 4-digit PIN. This PIN will be used for signing in and confirming your transactions. You also have to confirm your PIN when making transactions

Once all details have been provided, the team will look through your documents and an email will be sent to you once your documents have been verified.

Next step would be to continue to the app. While awaiting verification, you can look through the app and check out companies who are still raising.

Please note verification takes a maximum of 24hrs. These measures we take are intended to keep you safe as an investor at all times. You can reach us at support@getequity.io if you encounter any issues along the way.

Also note, once you provide us information, please note you cannot change it. If you would like to update any information regarding your identity, we would need to be informed by sending an email to support[at]getequity[dot]io with reasons.

Next steps after verification of your profile would be to fund your wallet which will be covered in the next article.

Categories
Founder Education

The Good and Harm of Angel Investors to your Startup

Unless you are Brian Chesky in 2009 trying to get Airbnb up and running while being a design graduate, you have by now heard about angel investing and how angels are an important entity in the startup industry in every growing emerging market.

But who exactly are Angel investors?

Well, basically angel investors get involved in a company at the very early times, usually during the initial round of funding of founders themselves, family, and friends, or when a company decides to take the very first check.

They provide startups with small amounts to roll out their products which is, most of the time, between $1000 to $1,000,000 depending on the industry, and structure of the business, model and capital the founder needs at that stage.

The main reason why angels are important in the startup field is because they usually come in at the stage where startups need it the most, “the early days”. They invest right at the initial funding and also before the company is yet to take shape for venture capital funds to be interested, hence the name “angels.”

Who are angels and how do they work, you may ask?

Angel investors often have a strong background in the business world but can also be:

  • Venture capitalists who write small checks on the side as part of alternative investment strategies.
  • C-level executives at successful high-growth companies and are looking to support other founders or C-level executives.
  • Professionals with passion and understanding in what it takes to run a successful startup and want to impact on newer generations.
  • Syndicates(groups of individual investors) that pool small amounts from each person to fund one deal decided by all of them.
  • Small business owners and entrepreneurs who already run successful companies and know how to spot other successes in the making.

Since angel investments come in at a critical stage of the startups, rigorous due diligence happens but it is relatively shorter than the later stages since the companies are yet to have deepened operations and big numbers to crunch.

  • Angel investors connect with young, growing companies through networking events, seminars, conventions, referrals from fellow investment organizations, and word of mouth, website portal or business.
  • When an angel investor and the founder of a company are interested in each other, the angel investor runs a due diligence procedure by talking to the founders, assessing the company’s products and business endeavors, and gauging the company’s industry, market size, business model and founder themselves.
  • A term sheet is then created by the angel investor when both parties reach a verbal agreement with investment terms, equity percentiles, investor rights and obligations, and exit strategies.
  • After the contract is finalized, the deal is officially closed and the funds are released for the company to use.

What your startup may gain from angel investment

  • The angel investor is mostly a fellow entrepreneur, but more experienced which means you will be trusted by someone who understands what you are going through and would provide you with actionable, realistic pieces of advice to grow your company.
  • There is more cash down the path. Angels only invest in companies they have great belief in future fruition and are in for the long haul. “… they often make another cash injection later on,” says Garett Polanco, an accredited angel investor who’s funded 29 companies.
  • There are no obligations if your angel investor invests in exchange with equity, most of which do. You do not have to pay back the angel investor when the business does not work.

How angel investment might damage (or kill) your startup

  • It may get too costly because in many cases, angel investors ask for a huge chunk of your startup in return for their funding. “That typically comes in the form of equity, which could be more expensive than debt financing,” Lavinsky says.
  • You will remain with less control over your startup. Since the angel investor is more likely to ask you to give up some equity in your company in exchange for their funding. That lump sum of equity might seem to be small but some angel investors might later decide they want a bigger role in business decisions.
  • There is a high chance you might go with novice angels. Due to the desperation and novelty of some first time founders, some startups end up taking offers from new angel investors with no strong experience in the industry or startup environment at large.

Be careful, do enough research, and focus on growing your business.

Many angels join at an early stage when the companies need every support they can get which is why they like to play an active role in the startups they fund. This is the reason for finding an angel investor who is both close geographically and skilled in the industry your business is in.

Also, there are also crowdfunding platforms that are on the rise where high-growth startups raise funds from communities of dedicated individual investors who take the big risks trusting the founding team to grow the businesses to fruition. This option could save your startup months that it would usually spend fundraising, give you broader connections amongst the founding community and more investors, and a marketing effect during the funding process.