VC4A Venture Showcase Mini Series - Kenza Lahlou

Entrepreneurs Talk Africa: Uncovering the Stories of Africa's Rising Business Stars

VC4A Venture Showcase Mini-Series - Episode 4: The Investor Perspective

Want insider tips on raising investment in Africa? Tune into this episode of Entrepreneurs Talk Africa as we speak with Kenza Lahlou, founder and managing partner at Outlierz Ventures.

Kenza shares her unique perspective as an investor in African startups. She provides valuable insights into what investors are looking for and how programs like the VC4A Venture Showcase can help entrepreneurs get investor-ready.

## Key Takeaways

- Understand which acceleration programs add value and carefully choose the right one for your startup (00:03:06)

- Exposure and connections to investors are a huge benefit of programs like the VC4A Venture Showcase (00:04:51)

- The VC4A program is structured to provide value to both entrepreneurs and investors (00:06:01)

- Investor interest breeds investor interest - having the backing of other investors adds confidence (00:11:48)

- Focus on execution, metrics and unit economics to attract investors even in tough times (00:20:37)

- Valuation corrections happening - raise at sensible valuations that bring the right investors (00:21:08)

## Referenced in the Episode

- [VC4A Venture Showcase](https://vc4a.com/venture-showcase/) - learn more about this flagship program for African startups

- [Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/) - top US accelerator

- [500 Startups](https://500.co/) - global seed fund and accelerator