Startups in Rwanda and the East African region have a new source for investment and mentorship, thanks in large part to the just-inaugurated Norrsken House Kigali, Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation has said.
Sweden's Norrsken Foundation, a co-working space and investment fund based in Stockholm, unveiled its tech fund and entrepreneurship hub in Rwanda, citing the need to support ventures across the region.
The campus, also known as Africa's biggest hub for entrepreneurship, was officially launched by President Paul Kagame, flanked by several high-ranked officials at the Norrsken Africa Week on Wednesday, November 8.
Nestled in the commercial and business centre of Kigali, the campus, already home to some 1,200 local and international start-ups, initially began with seed investments of $25,000 to $100,000 for early-stage start-ups in all sectors. The fund size could also be extended to larger series-stage investments from $100,000 to $1 million in the future.
Speaking shortly after the launch, Minister Ingabire commended Norrsken for its investment, particularly adding that Africa's innovation ecosystem continues to witness a remarkable surge in investment in the recent past. Last year alone, she highlighted, $3.3 billion in venture capital was poured into the continent.
"And we have also witnessed successful exits within the continent, and there's no better time than now to invest in African start-ups," she said.
The Kigali campus is Norrsken's first launch outside of Sweden and the organisation attributes the decision to the country's progress over the last decade on infrastructure, increasing internet penetration, and improving its business environment, despite a relatively small tech scene.
"When Norrsken first announced the expansion into Africa in 2019, the aim was to build the largest, biggest hub for entrepreneurship in Africa here," Ingabire said, "And this was a bold vision for Norrsken's first hub outside of Sweden, but I want to take this opportunity to thank you (Niklas Adalberth) and the co-founders for really betting big on Rwanda and choosing to position your first hub here."
In Rwanda, Minister Ingabire said; "We are a proof-of-concept market for African innovators and this has solidified Rwanda's positioning as a Pan-African innovation hub.
"And when I think about the story and journey that you have shared of Norrsken, I can only say that it embodies the spirit of being a proof of concept with the ability to start in Rwanda and scale in the rest of the continent. So thank you for choosing us and choosing to be here as the first country on the continent."
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The context
Africa is hosting a thriving community of startups in over 700 active tech hubs, and Norrsken happens to be one of them, according to Ingabire.
But for Rwanda very particularly, she asserted, what we present, the opportunities that we present to startups, to investors, to innovators across the board is a very progressive and forward-looking policy and regulatory environment.
"It is the ability to attract capital that will nurture these ideas from ideation shown all the way to when they are tested on the market and they are able to scale beyond just one geography. But most importantly, it's the ability to build the talent pipeline that is required to really anchor these kinds of innovations."
