Adaora Oramah, Founder & CEO of AMAKA Studio (AMAKA), is understandably excited.
Her company has just raised $2 million in seed funding that will fuel the growth and development of AMAKA in its endeavour to connect the world’s leading businesses and brands to young and diverse Pan-African creators.
This funding round was led by Equitane Ventures, with participation from Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures lab, Silverbacks Holdings and Angel investors.
Says Adaora:
Our focus is on scaling our platform, introducing AMAKA Gigs to connect brands with Black and diverse creative talent across Africa and the diaspora. The creative talent discovery process is currently fragmented, so we’re optimizing our platform to foster growth opportunities for creatives while helping businesses commission, pay, and manage talent seamlessly. We’re also launching more creator tools to help showcase their work, build community, and diversify income streams through subscriptions and events.
Adaora keeps things realistic and is open about her fundraising journey:
It’s been a long road to reach this milestone, and while I’m thrilled with the result, I want to be transparent about the journey. It’s been anything but easy — full of rejections, false promises, and navigating an economic downturn — all while pivoting AMAKA from a media company for Pan-African women to become an even more impactful creator platform. This experience completely altered my brain chemistry and reshaped how I see myself as a founder (in the best way possible). I’m sharing my fundraising story, broken down into numbers, to help others on their path. You can read it in my latest post on ‘Fail Smart’ here: https://bit.ly/3XRW73e
Not resting on their laurels, AMAKa has also announced its first-ever PITCHIT! event during which talented creators pitch their big ideas to Hella Awkward for a chance to win a Branded Content Partnership and industry recognition!
Both businesses and founders are invited, on October 17, 2024 (6PM BST), to come network, discover emerging talent, and be part of the future of the creative space.
Registration for PitchIT is free – https://bit.ly/4dxhIne