This article was first published on LinkedIn

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Congrats on taking the bold step to launch your startup in Africa! Now, as you navigate the African business landscape, a critical aspect that you need to understand is how to build a startup valuation. A solid startup valuation is not just an activity to be carried out by your financial team, it’s a holistic approach that can shape the trajectory of your business. In this article, we will explain valuations in detail and highlight the impact that a fair valuation can have on your investor relations.

What is Valuation?
In simple terms, Valuation can be defined as the process of determining the economic value of your startup. Picture a valuation as the price tag of your company while the price remains significantly influential to various aspects of your entrepreneurial journey.

Why Does Valuation Matter?
1. Attracting Investors
You’ve just launched a new company and you assume that your business idea/solution is a convincing reason to get investors to choose your company. On the other hand, investors are highly interested in understanding the waters they intend to plunge into. A fair and reasonable valuation helps to establish trust and credibility between both parties. Simply, it helps you set the stage for healthy negotiations with investors as well as serves as a make-or-break factor for potential investors.

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2. Strategic Decision Making
Your valuation serves as the insight provider into the overall health and potential growth of your startup. It helps you make strategic decisions about partnerships, growth and expansion, mergers and acquisitions, stakeholder negotiations and future planning.

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3. Equity Dilution
Valuation directly affects the amount of equity that you need to give away in exchange for funding. A fair valuation helps you strengthen your negotiation position with investors enabling you to secure better terms and conditions for your funding rounds. A higher valuation means you can raise capital without diluting your ownership as much. Striking the right balance is crucial to ensure you retain sufficient ownership while still enticing investors

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Understanding the Valuation Process
We’ve established the importance of valuation for your growth, it’s time to break the nitty-gritty of the valuation process. There are several processes used by various organizations to build a valuation with most often focused on global valuation standards alone. However, this is a huge challenge for both investors and companies. The African market has unique dynamics which makes it crucial for an accurate valuation.

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For example, across different African regions and business sectors, there are distinct industry norms and benchmarks. Also, the continent has varying economic trends that will likely impact the valuation of a startup so investors will typically find it important to do an accurate evaluation of the current state of startup investments.

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Last year, we introduced local market benchmarks; our Valuation Benchmarking Tools designed exclusively for the dynamic African market. This is the first Valuation service that is focused solely on benchmarking with African companies. With these new local standards, you can
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-Compare your startup’s funding budget, valuation cap, and percentage dilution with precision against other African startups in the same industry, stage, and country.
-Gain insights tailored to the unique dynamics of the African market, ensuring your comparisons are relevant and strategic.
-Report on accurate and defensible valuations using 5+ valuation methods.
-Receive a comprehensive 25+ page report that embeds your latest financial models and business templates, empowering you with a robust valuation narrative.
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By comparing similar companies within the African market, we account for the sector, funding rounds, financials, market conditions, and more to determine a valuation that aligns with the regional landscape.

How Does Valuation Impact Investor Relations?
We described earlier in the article, the essence of valuations, highlighting three key reasons; attracting investors, strategic decision making and equity dilution. A fair and proper valuation serves as a bridge to boost investor confidence.
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-Trustworthiness: Building a fair valuation demonstrates transparency to your investors. Your investors trust you because you’ve given them a realistic breakdown of what your startup is worth. Investors play the long-term game and as such your valuation will serve as a solid foundation for a long-term relationship.
-Building Resilience: With a fair valuation, your investors will still have a realistic perception of your startup’s value despite economic challenges.
-Improve Negotiation: A proper valuation helps build confidence for future negotiations. It sets the tone for a mutually beneficial agreement where both parties get a fair deal.

Tips to navigate your valuation process‍

1. Know the numbers: Investors will scrutinize everything: your revenue, expenses, and projections. It’s important to be quite familiar with your financials to instil confidence in your investors.

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2. Speak with previous founders: Look out for experienced and successful entrepreneurs who have also done a valuation of their company. Listen to them, and learn from them to avoid common mistakes.

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3. Be realistic: Don’t be overly optimistic, be realistic about your startup’s current and potential value. Ensure that you consider the current economic terrain and other intricacies before concluding on the worth of your company. Seek feedback and constructive criticism to help you refine your approach.
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4. Learn on the go: Stay updated on market trends, investment patterns and industry benchmarks. Valuations are always influenced by various factors which constantly change. Be alert and open to learning.
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The journey to building a new company can be challenging but it’s filled with immense opportunities. Building a valuation for your company isn’t rocket science. The key ingredient is being able to understand the market dynamics and having strong relationships with your investors.
Beyond numbers, valuations are critical for strategic opportunities and to guide the path of your growth trajectory. Always stay learning & and look out for resources to help guide you.
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👉 Reach out to Raise to discuss a valuation for your company.
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🔔 [Note: From the start of January, Raise is offering a FREE valuation service to NEW subscribers for our annual plans- Essentials & Pro. This offer is for a limited time. Visit the link above to claim the offer now.]

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