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.

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.

Accel, the US venture capital (VC) giant, has launched a startup scouting program in Europe, building on the legacy of its US project. Scouts in the “Starters” program are allocated $200К each to find, invest in, and nurture European startups with growth potential.

Because many of the world's most successful tech companies were conceived by college students, recent graduates or dropouts, VCs and their limited partners have long tried to find a way to tap into that youthful creativity as early as possible.

Sequoia Capital has funneled millions of dollars to scores of well-connected entrepreneurs and academics, who invest and look for ideas.

A feature on Monk’s Hill Ventures’ new Scouts Program in Southeast Asia.