A step‑by‑step guide for operators and students who want to enter Africa’s venture fellowships and scout pools – what they involve, how to stand out, and which articles to read first.
You are probably reading this because Twitter threads and demo‑day streams are no longer enough. You want to join the people who help choose the continent’s next breakout founders. The timing is favorable. Africa’s tech scene raised US $3.2 billion across 534 equity and debt deals in 2024, a seven‑percent dip on paper but effectively a stabilizing of capital after 2023’s global pullback. Almost half of that money still arrived at seed or earlier, so funds crave reliable sources of very early insight.
Two program formats dominate the pipeline that feeds those first checks. Scout tracks hand selected operators a fixed allocation – usually US $50 k to 100 k – to deploy in sub‑US $25 k tickets. Personal capital is optional and scouts keep 10 to 20 percent carry. Fellowships invest in your time instead. Over eight to twenty‑two weeks you attend live workshops, shadow diligence calls, and finish with a mock or real portfolio. Dream VC’s 2025 cohort, for example, runs sixteen to twenty‑two weeks and accepts fewer than four percent of applicants.
Why are these on‑ramps multiplying? First, geography. Lagos, Nairobi, and Cape Town sit four time zones apart. A distributed network of trained scouts reaches farther than a single office. Second, talent retention. An early‑stage platform recently launched a year‑long fellowship that pays seasoned operators to stay on the continent while learning to invest. Third, homegrown ownership. TechCrunch called Dream VC “a program that targets would‑be fund managers so Africa can grow its own capital base rather than wait for foreigners to move first.”
Most funnels involve a culture chat, a written memo, then a partner interview or mock investment committee. Acceptance rates hover near three percent, so polish your materials early.
A typical week mixes Monday night term‑sheet classes, a mid‑week deal debate, and Friday office hours with a general partner. If you are on a scout track you will likely need to surface one qualified lead per month. Fellowship tracks often culminate in a simulation where you defend a deal and map out follow‑on reserves.
Dream VC fellows say the calendar feels like “an MBA sprint” and ends with an off‑site retreat that for past classes took place in Zanzibar, Marrakech, or Tunisia. Obuntu Launchpad fellows describe a twelve‑month schedule of sixty‑plus sessions led by partners from Partech, TLcom, and Helios, delivered entirely online so participants can keep their day jobs.
One press note about Dream VC’s 2025 intake highlighted 135 fellows from fifty nationalities and said women made up fifty‑six percent of the class – proof that diversity goals are measurable inside these pipelines.
Ask three questions:
If the answers align, draft a 100‑word bio that lists concrete wins, build a one‑page sector thesis with one proprietary data point, create a simple cap‑table model in Google Sheets, and line up two founder references. Treat the application itself as your first investment memo.
Ten years ago, Sequoia Capital began quietly encouraging founders of its portfolio companies to consider which of their founder friends they might like to get behind financially.
Spearhead announced today that it has raised $100 million for its fourth fund. The basic outline of the program remains the same, but what’s changed is what happens after the formal Spearhead program has finished.
A feature on Monk’s Hill Ventures’ new Scouts Program in Southeast Asia.
Founders are extraordinarily busy, even for their own investors. A decade ago, they might have had relationships with a handful of VC partners as they scaled their businesses and raised additional rounds of capital.
Lagos-based early-stage investment platform Microtraction has launched a bid to source more deals and identify “high-trajectory” founders.
It started as First Round Capital’s experiment. After all, founder Josh Kopelman had started his first company, Infonautics, while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. Partner Hayley Barna had started Birchbox while still at Harvard Business School.
Join the Superscout community!
🌍 Meet other scouts globally.
👀 Get first dibs on new scout programs and VC openings.
✨ Get feedback and investor recommendations for your deal memos.
✌️ Learn and grow together as a community!
