Month: May 2022

Categories
Equifam Spotlight

Equifam Spotlight: Timi Omoyeni

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

I’ve been here since April last year. First as a contract Frontend Engineer and then as the lead Frontend Engineer. The funniest/craziest thing about this journey is that I started/resumed a week before the first semester exams in my final year 😂😂

A week to your exams? How did that work?

Lmao, omo I had been reading during the semester and I knew how to plan my time/self. Whenever I wasn’t working, I was reading or eating. I also used my alarm and stopwatch a lot. Everything I did during that period was timed. I didn’t have time for any unnecessary chat or stuff. And funny enough, it was my best result up till that point, I guess I should have gotten a job sooner?

What does your job entail?

Usually, it involves translating designs to actual products that our users can use. Being the lead of my team means I need to ensure that my team is doing their job as required, try to help clear blockers when they appear, and meetings with the PMs to understand certain products, requirements, and timelines.

What’s your day-to-day like?

Well, my day to day currently involves me talking with the PMs on tasks, syncing with Drew and William, and then working on my tasks. I didn’t mention my teammate because he’s a top lad, and he doesn’t/rarely needs my help with issues because we always align.

What would you say motivates you to open slack every day?

Omo, I can’t even lie motivation no dey these days. But on a good day, the will/need to be better at my job, the opportunity to learn more about the space we’re building for, the amazing people at GE and of course, the fear of going broke.

How has your career grown since joining GetEquity?

Honestly yeah? It’s been very intense. No matter how many times you do it, there’s always that fear that comes with “let’s take this product live” even when you’re sure that the product is 100% good enough for our users. Working here has helped me develop more confidence. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with amazing people across different teams.

What is your favorite thing about working at GetEquity?

Top of the list for me has to be the people that make up the company. Last April made it a year since I joined the company and I wrote about it on medium, but I’ve refused to hit “publish” for everyone else to see 😂. Part of the things I wrote, was ‘the people of Getequity’. You cannot go for South Friday and not see someone from the office, or even your CEO inviting to his table/ensuring you have booze in your cup or something, Fun people = productive team.

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

Omo, let me see… I want to travel, a lot too. I believe we as individuals see life from different perspectives, and have different ideologies of life because of the things we’ve been exposed to. Unless we get exposed to something different, we might keep such perspectives for the rest of our lives, so yeah…I want to travel to experience different things.

Before we go, tell us a fun fact about you

I used to rap, yes. In fact, I used to be in one group with Zlatan Ibile. There are still people that call me by my ‘rap name’ whenever I’m in Ikorodu. fun times in my opinion.😂😂

Categories
Using GetEquity

Return on Investment: How it works on GetEquity

In this article, we will be breaking down the definition of return on investment as it pertains to startups and how it relates to GetEquity.

If you are yet to read our previous articles on sign up and KYC process, funding your wallet and buying tokens, catch up here

Let’s get started.

What is a return on investment(ROI)?

Return on Investment is when you gain a certain amount of interest/profits on an investment made in either a company, stocks, or even in the case of loans.

This is derived by calculating the difference between the initial investment and the current value of the investment.

How does it relate to startups?

As mentioned in some of our previous articles, startup investing involves putting down capital, in exchange for equity — a portion of ownership in the startup and rights to its potential future profits.

Investing in startup companies is a very risky business, but it can be very rewarding if and when the investments do pay off. The majority of new companies or products simply do not make it, so the risk of losing one’s entire investment is a real possibility. The ones that do make it, however, can produce very high returns on investment.

Let’s say, for example, Chris invests $30,000 in company Z whose value is $3,000,000 in return for 10% equity in the company.

If the value of company Z rises to $9,000,000, it means that the 10% shares Chris owns are now valued at $90,000. This further translates to a x3 increase of the initial capital invested and an interest of $60,000 gained.

At this point, Chris can choose to sell his shares(which can be done via the secondary market on GetEquity if there’s a matching buyer) and receive his capital and possible interest or he can hold his shares and hope for a higher value in the future when the company exits by being acquired or go public or raise a significant investment.

However, what if company Z’s value doesn’t rise and eventually shuts down, this means that the initial $30,000 Chris invested will be lost.

How does this work with GetEquity?

Similar to the example given above. ROIs on GetEquity work in a similar way.

As explained in this article, GetEquity operates as a digital syndicate and invests in the startups we list. We then digitize the equity received into tokens so they are easily accessible by angel investors like you on our system.

For example, Micheal invests $1000 in company Z who is raising $10,000 in return for 10% equity. Company Z’s valuation as at its raise on GetEquity is $1,000,000.

If Company Z’s value rises in a few months to $5,000,000. It means the value of the investment has risen to a x5 increase — $50,0000.

Therefore, the $1000 worth of tokens Michael bought has now received a x5 increase and is now valued at $5000.

If GetEquity exits company Z at this new valuation, all investors in company Z would have made a return on their investment which will be liquidated and funds converted to their cash wallet which can be withdrawn.

Permit me to reiterate at this point: there is a possibility that you can lose your investment as companies fail and investments are not recovered. Only invest money you are willing to lose.

You can reach us for any questions at support@getequity.io and if you also encounter any issues along the way, we are here to help.

Categories
Press Releases

Increasing Startup Access to Funding as GetEquity expands to East Africa

[Nairobi, Kenya] As global economies rebound from the COVID-19 shock, things are looking up for African startup founders, an April 2022 report by African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association shows. A record-breaking USD5.2 billion was raised in 2021 by African firms — a majority going to tech-backed innovations on the continent, with data showing growth in volume and value of investment deals.

“African tech took center stage in 2021: 81% of VC deals in 2021 were in technology or technology-enabled companies operating across a variety of sectors. 16 super-sized deals (with a combined value of US$2.6 billion) took place in 2021, raised from 15 unique companies,” read the report, which cited figures from 604 companies across the continent.

Things are only looking up, as Q1 2022 data shows a strong start to the year for startups, with TechCrunch noting that there are ‘no signs of a slowdown in Africa’s tech funding.’ While this is good news for the startup ecosystem, a closer look shows that only a small percentage of African firms have access to this funding, GetEquity CEO, Jude Dike points out.

“We are excited to see sustained interest from big-ticket investors, and we see this as an affirmation of the potential that homegrown solutions have in solving the real-world problems consumers and companies face. Having worked in the African startup ecosystem, we also recognise that these opportunities are not accessible to many new firms — especially those in the pre-seed funding stage,” he explains, adding that lack of access to funding is a key impediment to promising startups.

Democratizing access to the startup funding

While on one hand companies struggle to access much-need capital for growth, local and individual investors also face challenges in finding early investment opportunities — a need that GetEquity is intent on addressing.

“We are democratizing access to the startup funding space — both for investors seeking to grow their money in companies with a high growth potential, and for startups seeking to raise capital to accelerate business growth. Our private marketplace is open to individual and institutional investors alike, and we have ensured this accessibility by making sure that one can back startups for even as little as USD10 (Ksh.1000)”

Founded in Nigeria in 2020, GetEquity is a private marketplace for investors and companies to trade digital securities and assets privately and securely. The platform allows companies or enterprises to digitalize their assets via tokens, and creates liquidity for them by connecting them to investors and syndicates who can buy and sell these assets. Firms seeking early-stage funding apply to be listed on the platform, undergo rigorous vetting processes, after which they are eligible for investment on the platform.

Early stage startup support

While conducting an East Africa market engagement in April, GetEquity Director of Growth/Co-Founder Temitope Ekundayo underscored the importance of connecting directly with founders, saying the company is committed to maintaining their hands-on startup support approach as they expand in the region.

Speaking to startups at a Nairobi Garage fireside chat, he pointed out that while most venture capitalist firms focus on firms at advanced growth stages, his team is committed to also offering budding firms the support they need to develop and scale.

“Early stage support involves a bit of handholding, and fortunately, we have a lot of startup superstars on our team — people who have started companies and scaled them, so they have practical insight into the real challenges founders face. So to support our partners we check in on them monthly, and assist them in problem-solving using the insights they share with us,” said Mr. Ekundayo.

Speaking in Nairobi on a panel discussion about startup access to funding in, he stated that while GetEquity’s main aim is to help African startups access funding, they also provide advice to the companies they list.

“Recently, one company in our portfolio was looking for a senior sales person for their team. Within my network, in just one day, I was able to source 20 good high-level CVs for people I know and trust will get the job done. From there it was up to him to recruit the most suitable candidate. At the end of the day, our job is to provide support, funding opportunities, and advice. In the end it is up to the companies to drive the business.”

East Africa Growth Lead Eve Mumbi adds that providing knowledge sharing opportunities is high on GetEquity’s agenda as they make expansion plans in the market.

“Businesses do not exist in a vacuum, therefore having first-hand knowledge of market realities within the East African context is crucial for companies targeting exponential growth. As we expand our network within the region, we are investing in personnel, research, and knowledge sharing opportunities for our founders. These efforts are aimed at ensuring that even as we help organizations get equity to escalate their growth, they have additional insights to make the best of it. So far, we have onboarded MyWagePay and Zemo Card and as we continue with our market visits within the region, we look forward to onboarding more partners in the next few months.”

The company will be kicking off a series of Masterclasses and funding round-tables in Q2 and Q3 2022, as well as market visits across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. To get updates on events within the region, register for the mailing list here.