The Funding Grind for Black Travel Startup Founders in Africa
Photo Caption: A startup business in Nigeria. Source: Desola Lanre-Ologun, Unsplash.
Skift Take
Black founders appear to be raising more money with each round, but it’s not nearly enough when it comes to travel tech startups looking to diversify the tourism offering across the African continent.
Travel entrepreneurs know the grind when it comes to funding a startup. But the ability to get financial backing and support is said to compound when you are a founder bringing unconventional solutions for emerging markets, predominantly Black markets, that don’t fit the usual Silicon Valley bill.
This is something Rwandan-Canadian Charles Shima, the founder of Africa-centric online travel marketplace ZaNiheza, said he has discovered as he sets about creating a platform to bring diversity to Africa’s travel experiences.
As a definitive safari destination, Africa has created a disconnect for its cities and people, said Shima, who believes part of the problem is that people can’t find the experiences that would ultimately help change their perception about travel to the continent. He used the example of his country of birth Rwanda, "People come to Kigali, and they are immediately off to see the gorillas. They don’t stay to experience Kigali, and so mu
