For this entrepreneur, it goes beyond return on her investment.
Media expert, founder, executive producer, and Lagos Angel Network board member, Biola Alabi became an angel investor because ‘someone pitched me a business that I thought made sense, and I really believed in the entrepreneur and wanted to help them. I also was hoping to have a return on my investment.’
In a recent webinar titled, Practical Steps to Angel Investing organised by Africa Women CEOs Network (AWCN), Biola listed her five reasons for being an angel investor.
Creating dignified employment on the African continent. ‘We all live in Africa, and we all know the challenges around unemployment,’ Biola says. ‘The biggest benefit of any investment I make is that people can get jobs. As an angel investor, I am also part of creating dignified jobs, . . . and having a lot of influence in helping people [founders] think through how and what they hire for, and how they pay people. Angel investing presents such huge opportunities.’
For this angel investor, investing is also her way of giving back. She sees it as a big part of who we are as beings – giving back and seeing others succeed because of it.
Diverse work environment. Her second reason is tied to her advocacy for women.
As an angel investor, Biola becomes instrumental in laying the foundation of the businesses because she is literally with them at the starting line. She brings all her years of knowledge and experience to the table to create a different culture of inclusivity, especially for women.
‘One reason we don’t see enough women in the room is because no one actually helps people think through that. . . it is important to diversify the start-up team, as a strong team is diverse. . .I also look at the equity share option to ensure that when founders say there is a female co-founder that it actually makes sense, and that person’s a shareholder in the company. . . and not a female co-founder because it’s a good presentation to have.’
Governance. Next on her list is governance. Being an angel investor enables her to ‘coach people around governance.’
Hear her: ‘There are a lot of companies that don’t have a lot of longevity and that’s because of the lack of the right government structure from the beginning.’
Angel investing allows her to sit on boards of companies with the utmost governance structures, and she replicates the same in the companies she invests in because some founders request her presence on their boards. These founders realise that to continue to grow and fundraise in the future, certain angel investors (like her) are required on their boards.
‘I’ve learned more about board governance and structures from being on the boards of start-ups,’ she says, ‘and now I’m on the board of listed companies.’
Contributing to a future we want to see from a policy perspective. Africa is the future, but that will not happen ‘just by wishing it or keeping our heads down and going about our day jobs. . . but by rolling up our sleeves and getting involved in the work towards it,’ says Biola.
Angel investing is one way to create the future we want for our daughters, our sons, for the next generation because we all want to live in an equitable world. Seasoned angel investors like Biola can help founders, who are mostly young people, understand and navigate sensitive issues like sexual harassment in the workplace and why it is important to have such a policy in place.
‘I think this will make it possible for more women to come work for founders and make men comfortable too because policies help people know what to and what not to do,’ she says. ‘Everyone wants to know what the rules are. . .I mean, so many people work in companies and don’t know what the rules are, and I can help people shape that from the beginning.’
Financial reward. This reason is par for the course. Often, being an angel investor starts with funds; funds the investor hopes to get back someday. For Biola, this financial reward also includes reading about the progress of the company she invested in and being a part of its journey.
Biola Alabi is the general partner of Acasia Ventures and founder/CEO of Biola Alabi Media Consulting.
About GetFundedAfrica
GetFundedAfrica is a cloud-based technology platform specializing in developing software that helps businesses to fundraise, grow, and tell their stories. Whether you want to raise funds ranging from $100k to $50m, scale your business or share your entrepreneurial journey, sign up for free at www.getfundedafrica.com
