Equity finance provides investors who invest in your business over the medium to long term. This provides a more stable form of funding, particularly for businesses that are now looking to expand from a single area of operation to multiple locations. Early stage investment funding is available for small businesses with viable business models who are looking to scale up, while venture capital funding is accessible for successful high-growth businesses that need funding to expand nationally, regionally or even internationally.
Early-stage investor funding
This entails getting investors to come into your business after you have developed a viable and proven business model. We provide an accelerator program that helps you to:
- Evaluate the suitability of your business for incubation/acceleration
- Develop a solid business plan and proposal for pitching to potential investors
- Implement the plan and grow your business
- Expand the business beyond early stages and into higher tier funding structures such as private equity or a listing.
Should you be interested in accessing early-stage investor funding, download and complete this form, then e-mail it to info(at)smeaz.org.zw . We will do a preliminary evaluation of your application and if we feel we can progress with it, we will advise of the detailed process. Note that you will be required to become a paid-up member of the Association, and there will be some initial fees payable prior to accessing of funding. Funding applications may also fail even after our initial acceptance of your application.
Venture capital
Where you have an established, successful business that needs significant levels of capital to scale up, we have venture capital partners who are able to provide the level of funding and expertise that may be required. Please note that only a few types of businesses or entrepreneurial ventures are suitable for this kind of funding. Should you be interested, please download and complete this Executive Summary (or send your own executive summary if it provides the same information) and send to info(at)smeaz.org.zw . We will do an initial evaluation to determine whether or not your business and the plans you have would qualify for venture capital funding.
Note that subsequent to the initial evaluation (and your business meeting the requirements) you will be required to become a paid-up member of the Association, and there will be some initial fees payable prior to accessing of funding. Funding applications may also fail even after our initial acceptance of your application.
Should you require further information regarding equity finance or venture capital funding, you can click on the button below.