NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

VENTURES AFRICA – Ugandan billionaire businessman Ashish J. Thakkar, under the auspices of the Mara foundation, a non-profit enterprise of Mara Group, today announced the formation and launch of a venture capital firm – Mara Launch Uganda Fund to support the needs of today’s entrepreneurs.

Mara Launch Uganda Fund, totalling UGX 100 million ($41,000), which will be scaled up to UGX 1 billion ($407,000), would be made available for investments in diverse sectors, including IT solutions, Tourism Services, Agriculture & Agro processing and Manufacturing amongst others. The fund would be used to invest in startups at seed, venture and growth stages, with investments done on a case by case basis.

According to a statement by the Foundation, two other projects will complement the Mara Launch Uganda Fund. The first, a mentorship programme Entrepreneur Launch Pad and the second a business incubator, Mara Launch Pad.

The Entrepreneur Launch Pad, is a meeting point of business leaders and young entrepreneurs, for mentoring. Business leaders will be available to guide young entrepreneurs on business decisions, useful for their start-ups, while the Mara Launch Pad is a base for growing business, an innovation and enterprise centre for young businesses, useful as a professional office space, at a token, for them – these will be important for visibility and credibility of these individuals.