Timbu plans to invest US$500,000 in early-stage Southern African travel start-ups
Timbu.com, a Mauritian travel site, has announced plans to invest US$25,000 in 20 travel start-ups in each Southern African country, including Namibia.
The travel agency, focused on African destinations, is currently a market leader in Nigeria and other West African countries and now aims to grow its presence in South Africa by investing in travel start-ups.
The Timbu funding will be exclusive to innovative start-ups solving real issues in the hospitality niche, with most of the focus being on start-ups around the curated travel (one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry). However, the company noted that there are plans to expand into other niches down the line. According to the company, the fund is an angel fund and Timbu will seek equity shares in the businesses that are accepted into the program.
The company further said the need to begin investing in early-stage start-ups in South Africa was borne out of the need to grow the existing tech ecosystem in these countries and provide entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to grow these countries’ start-up scene.
In the last quarter of last year, Timbu rolled out plans to provide employment opportunities for unemployed South African youths. Sequel to that move, launched this initiative and projects that it will encourage other angel investors like Timbu to also put more money into Southern African start-ups, thus accelerating the growth of local businesses.
Interested start-ups are required to submit a document containing; Company name; Company URL, if any, Name and email of the founder(s); Role of each founder; What your company is making and the problem it aims to solve in your country; Who your competitors are and what gives your company edge over them; How your company intends to make money.
All applications should be submitted to [email protected] with the subject line as “{Country} Start-up Funding Application” (e.g. South Africa Startup Funding Application).
