Podcasts Business WHERE’S THE FUNDING? How this Entrepreneur Remained Resilient During the 9 Years it Took to Raise a Series A Round with Affiong Williams S4 Ep.5

How this Entrepreneur Remained Resilient During the 9 Years it Took to Raise a Series A Round with Affiong Williams S4 Ep.5

Published: June 17, 2022, 1 p.m.

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Her series A round took 9 years to raise overdue but right on time. Afffiong Williams stops by WHERE\'S THE FUNDING? to discuss her nine-year journey to raising Series A funding, the role trust and vision played during the wait, her advice for women in agribusiness, and how to meet the $200 billion demand for finance for agribusinesses. If slow and steady wins the race was a person, it would be Affiong Williams. Managing devaluations and macroeconomic instability in Nigeria, limited production capacity, and supply chain difficulties are a regular part of doing business for Affiong.

Despite the many challenges she kept going, remained steadfast, trusted herself, and believed in her vision. While she waited she learned how to be agile, resilient, and capital efficient. In 2021, her $3M+ series A raise put her in a small and celebrated group of African single female founders who raised more than $1M.

What you\'ll learn from Affiong in this episode:

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  • That being a pioneer and the first mover means building a market that doesn\'t exist and it takes time to build it and figure things out.
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  • How she survived the 9-year wait and what she did to build grit.
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  • Become internally driven; embrace radical self-love; become your own cheerleader while tapping into the cheerleaders around you; double down on the belief in your self-purpose; and become solutions-oriented
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  • Entrepreneurs should hustle smart, not hard. Target the right investors for your sector and ensure that you only approach investors that are interested in what you do. Make sure to focus on revenue growth and meeting at least 4 out of 5 of the criteria those investors look for.
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  • What she thinks are the key things that will help meet the agribusiness financing gap; and
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  • Three (3) lessons learned from her entrepreneurship and funding journey for female entrepreneurs.
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Follow Affiong on LinkedIn. To learn more about ReelFruit visit reelfruit.com, follow on Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at ReelFruit.

Follow the podcast on Instagram at whereisthefunding_podcast and me, your host Michelle J. McKenzie on LinkedIn.

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