Connecting In Spite Of The Pandemic
As with businesses around the world, 2020 wasn’t what any of us expected. We couldn’t hold our annual in-person event, investment slowed down, and many businesses that might have been expected to be raising capital were, instead, trying to pivot their business models or find new ways of working in the current circumstances.
The ICA team stayed strong to our mission to support Zambian businesses and help connect investment ready businesses with impact investors around the world.
We completed an in-depth survey of businesses in Zambia during the early stages of the pandemic to learn more about what they needed. We reworked our website and online platform to ensure virtual connections could be made safely and securely, without the need for international travel, and we finished 2020 strong, hosting our first-ever Virtual Pitching Event.
The event featured four exciting investment-ready businesses from a range of sectors from agriculture to telecommunications. Each business delivered a five-minute presentation, after which investors were given the opportunity to ask questions.
The hour-long event went really well, with investor engagement exceeding our expectations and feedback being overwhelmingly positive.
“Really well done today. Slick presentation, great mix of people and interesting companies.”
– Impact Investor in attendance
All four featured companies are now in active discussions with potential investors and we are hopeful that these will bear fruit early in 2021.
Building on the success of our inaugural Virtual Pitching Event we are looking to schedule more in the coming months, showcasing the best of Zambian investment opportunities.
Although midnight on December 31 didn’t automatically reset the world, we are looking forward to a new year, finding new opportunities to connect people, and helping investment ready businesses in Zambia meet the right investors.
As we introduce new initiatives, we will share our plans here and on social media. Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn to ensure you stay up to date.
If you are a business looking to raise capital, an investor seeking investment ready opportunities, or a partner looking to raise your profile in Zambia, please get in touch about joining our network. Email us at [email protected] to learn more.
