Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies

Pan-African · Venture building and diligence

Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies backs early-stage African entrepreneurs through its own venture programmes, on the view that money without operating support does not produce companies. It engaged us on both sides of that view at once: to build five seed ventures to investor standard, and to assess more than thirty companies against the same standard.

The Challenge

Five founders who would not reach institutional capital on their own, each needing to be investor-ready by the end of the programme rather than merely better informed. And a diligence pipeline of thirty-plus companies that had to be judged by the criteria the five were being built to meet.

Our Approach

We held both roles concurrently. Every question asked of a company under diligence became a question put to the five under construction, and the answer had to hold on both sides of the table. That is where the diagnostic method was sharpened.

Deliverables

Five seed ventures accelerated to investor standard

Due diligence on more than thirty companies

One set of criteria, applied to both

A curated pipeline of 25 to 40 matched investors per venture

Results

5

ventures accelerated, two into active investor negotiations

30+

companies diligenced

The standard an investor applies is not a secret. It is a checklist, and a company can be built to it from the first week.

All of the record

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