Mauritian travel firm; TIMBU announces plans of investing USD$25,000 (approx. UGX91.9 million) in 20 early-stage travel startups in each East African country, Uganda inclusive.
The travel agency is currently a market leader in Nigeria and other West African countries. Aims to grow its presence in East Africa through investing in travel startups.
The funding is exclusive to startups solving real-times issues in the hospitality niche — focusing more on those around the curated travel. However, the company assures plans of expanding into other niches.
Timbu in a statement said, “the need of investing in early-stage startups was borne out of the need to grow the existing tech ecosystem in East African countries, providing entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to grow in the startup scene.”
The Mauritian-based travel firm said it also intends to guide startups with getting their initial customers, gain traction, as well as providing them with the talents to assist them in gaining Series A and B funding. This was confirmed by Timbu media representative.
Timbu will be providing mentorship and coaching to startups beginning with Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Thereby providing an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to share their experiences in the pipeline.
With the plan finally in motion, it is projected to encourage other angel investors to also put more money into East African startups, accelerating the growth of local businesses.
Applying for the Timbu Funding
Submit a document containing the following information;
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.
Your competition and what gives your company edge over them.
How your company intends to make money
All applications should be submitted to funding@timbu.com with the subject line as “{Country} Startup Funding Application” (e.g. Kenyan Startup Funding Application).
The fund is an angel fund and Timbu will seek equity shares in the businesses that are accepted into the program.
