Critical Role of ESOs in Advancing Impact Investing in Africa

Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) play a vital role in bridging the gap between promising ventures and investors seeking measurable impact.

For entrepreneurs, ESOs often serve as the first, and sometimes only, source of support in navigating the complex path to investment readiness.

They provide critical support and resources to navigate the early stages of development, as well as networks such as mentors, partners, and investors.

Without this foundational support, many high-potential founders struggle to access the capital and resources they need to grow their businesses.

For investors, ESOs are a critical intermediary addressing their biggest challenge: high-quality deal flow and ensuring these ventures are investment – ready.

ESOs help refine business models and validate the market potential of startups, the groundwork that reduces risks for investors and increases the likelihood of meaningful returns, both social and financial.

Case in point: Octavia Carbon, a Kenya-based company leveraging Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to filter CO2 directly from the air, joined Village Capital’s Innovation for Ecosystem Restoration program in Africa in 2023, which supported startups addressing environmental degradation.

Reflecting on the value of the support, Co-Founder Duncan Kariuki shared, “The support from Village Capital helped us understand the complex dynamics of investment, positioning us to secure the funding we needed to scale our impact.”

Since then, the startup has raised multiple funding rounds, successfully closing USD 5 million in seed funding.

This success story isn’t an isolated case; it highlights the role that ESOs play in preparing startups for funding.

Tackling the Sustainability of ESOs

While we see the incredible role of ESOs in the success stories of startups such as OctaviaCarbon, these organizations face various challenges that threaten their sustainability and effectiveness.

Our research reveals that ESOs rely heavily on grants as a primary source revenue and are often constrained by restrictive, cyclic, program-based funding models.

This financial instability makes it difficult for them to build institutional resilience and plan for long impact.

Also Read: Two African Entrepreneurs Win Ksh261 million Green Energy Global Award

Despite its notable success and backing, the Catalyst Fund, a global accelerator that funds early-stage startups improving the livelihoods of underserved communities across Africa,

Asia, and Latin America, and one of the organizations that invested in Octavia Carbon, recognizes the persistent challenges ESOs face in the region.

 “ESOs themselves face many of the same challenges as the startups they help; limited resources, constrained networks, and difficulties accessing capital,” shares Sydney Thiam, the Venture Building Lead at Catalyst Fund.   

At Village Capital, we’re addressing this challenge by re-imagining the sustainability of these organizations.

Research shows that organization-level investments lead to the most sustained impact for entrepreneurs, yet this investment into local ESOs is the most lacking.

One key approach we’re testing is shifting how capital decisions are made by investing in the institutional capacity of ESOs and empowering them to act as trusted intermediaries in capital deployment.

This moves beyond viewing ESOs merely as service providers for development programs to recognizing their potential as key ecosystem builders that unlock capital for their startups.

One institutional impact funder collaborating within Africa is Norad – the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, through the Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship Africa (ESEA) initiative.

Over the past 12 months, we have supported 14 ESOs and are now deepening our partnership with five of them – namely, the Catalyst Fund (Kenya), Reach for Change Foundation (Ghana), Ennovate Ventures (Tanzania), Emerge Livelihoods (Malawi), and Ideialab (Mozambique).

These ESOs will receive funding to co-lead venture programs in 2025-2026. “Thisecosystem-building initiative facilitates collaboration across the continent, encouraging ESOs to share best practices, co-build solutions, and leverage collective knowledge.

This level of connectivity is essential for fostering more holistic support for climate startups, giving them access to a broader set of resources and insights,” notes Sydney.

Also Read: British Council Launches Free Platform for African Entrepreneurs

By equipping ESOs with the resources and autonomy to design and implement impactful programs, we are also strengthening their ability to unlock capital tailored to the needs of the startups they support.

In doing so, we envision an ecosystem where ESOs facilitate access to capital and ultimately drive sustained economic and social impact in the communities they serve.

This article was written by Susan Nakami, the Regional Lead for Africa at Village Capital, where she works on the regional strategy, as well as program and ecosystem development for the African continent.

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