Ventures Dialogue

What Ventures Dialogue does

Ventures Dialogue is a Lagos-based nonprofit education and events platform operated under the parent Raven Africa Foundation, founded in 2017 to support African entrepreneurs and, in particular, women founders facing capital access gaps. Its product surface is a portfolio of recurring programs and masterclasses — including Women Founders & Funders, Tech In Heels, Lagos Hardware Dialogue, Policy Dialogue, Meet the Investors, The Dialogue Series, and the Startup Valuation Workshop — delivered through in-person events in Lagos and virtual masterclasses, with supplementary distribution via a YouTube channel and partnerships such as SoGal Foundation (2020). The platform is not a software or SaaS product; core technology is not disclosed, and there is no proprietary platform architecture described. Its business model is best characterized as grant- or foundation-funded via the parent nonprofit, with pricing not publicly disclosed, no paying customers, and no disclosed revenue or funding rounds. The organization has positioned itself within the African entrepreneurship support ecosystem, having contributed to policy discussions cited as influential in the passage of Nigeria's Startup Act in 2022.

Name

Ventures Dialogue

Legal name

Ventures Dialogue by Raven Africa Foundation

Website

https://venturesdialogue.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ventures Dialogue is a Lagos-based nonprofit events and education platform that runs masterclasses, pitch programs, and policy dialogues for African entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on women founders, under parent Raven Africa Foundation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education & Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (81399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship, Business & Innovation Camps (EDAMALAL), Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Startup masterclasses
• Founder community events
• Investment readiness training
• Women in tech programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lagos

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Platform Services: Ventures Dialogue by Raven Africa Foundation operates as a non-profit educational platform. Revenue model not explicitly disclosed - appears to be grant-funded or supported by the parent foundation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ventures Dialogue is a nonprofit education and events platform that runs multi-program masterclasses, pitch competitions, and policy dialogues to support African startup founders, with a focus on women entrepreneurs. Programs include Women Founders & Funders, Tech In Heels, The Dialogue Series, Meet the Investors, Lagos Hardware Dialogue, Policy Dialogue, and Startup Valuation Workshop, delivered through in-person and virtual formats and often in partnership with organizations such as SoGal Foundation.

Product overview

Ventures Dialogue is an event and education platform operated by Raven Africa Foundation, designed to support African entrepreneurs and startup founders. Rather than a unified software product, it consists of multiple programs and masterclasses focused on startup education, investment readiness, and connecting founders with investors. The core offerings include Women Founders & Funders, Tech In Heels (focused on women in tech), The Dialogue Series (covering valuation and term sheets), and various investor meetup events. The platform hosts in-person events and programs rather than offering a SaaS product or technology platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tech In Heels: A 2-day program designed to provide female founders with business essentials to promote their start-ups and a platform to pitch their businesses to women investors. Includes a female founders bootcamp and open pitch event.
• Women Founders & Funders
• Lagos Hardware Dialogue
• Policy Dialogue
• Meet the Investors
• The Dialogue Series
• Startup Valuation Workshop

Products and services

• Women Founders & Funders A masterclass for women founders on fundraising and building a startup as a woman in tech, followed by an AMA panel session by an all-women investor panel to discuss the challenges of women in tech.
• Tech In Heels Pitch (TIH) A 2-day program providing female founders with business essentials to promote their start-ups, including a female founders bootcamp on day one and an open pitch event on day two where founders pitch their businesses to women investors.
• Lagos Hardware Dialogue An event with discussions on building hardware startups and the difficulty faced by hardware startup founders in Nigeria, focused on the challenges and opportunities for hardware in the region.
• Policy Dialogue An event series that promotes policy dialogue in Nigeria and initiated discussions around the Nigerian Startup Act that was passed in 2022.
• Meet the Investors An AMA session with investors from DiGame and IFC, paired with a Valuation Masterclass by Lexi Novitske.
• The Dialogue Series Masterclasses for entrepreneurs on building with local intelligence of doing business in Africa, plus sessions for legal practitioners and founders on term sheets and valuation.
• Startup Valuation Workshop A masterclass on understanding term sheets, valuation, and compliance for startup founders.
• SoGal Lagos Demoday A 2-day partnership program with SoGal Lagos and SoGal Foundation to sponsor startups to participate in the SoGal Global Pitch Competition in 2020.

Quantifiable outcome

• Women Founders and Funders event highlighted disparity in funding for women entrepreneurs and provided solutions and networking
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SoGal FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with SoGal Foundation to sponsor a 2-day program for startups to participate in the SoGal Global Pitch Competition in 2020. This collaboration extended growth opportunities to African startup founders through international competition exposure.
• SoGal LagoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal chapter partnership with SoGal Lagos to deliver the 2-day program for the SoGal Global Pitch Competition 2020. SoGal Lagos co-organizes events with Ventures Dialogue to support women founders in Africa.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SoGal Foundation: Global platform supporting diverse founders and investors, with a direct co-branded partnership with Ventures Dialogue (SoGal Lagos Demoday, 2020). Operates the SoGal Global Pitch Competition, mirroring Ventures Dialogue's pitch and capital-access programming for women founders.
• AfriLabs: Pan-African network of innovation hubs supporting African tech entrepreneurs. Comparable in mission to grow the African entrepreneurship ecosystem and in community/event-driven programming, with a distributed hub model across multiple African countries.
• FATE Foundation: Nigerian nonprofit foundation running entrepreneur training, mentorship, and business support programs. Directly comparable mission and delivery model (foundation-led, training-focused, Nigeria-based) supporting early-stage African entrepreneurs.
• Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF): Pan-African entrepreneurship program that runs training, mentorship, and seed capital for African entrepreneurs. Directly comparable in mission (African founder development) and in delivery format (cohort-based training and pitch events), though at materially larger scale.
• Impact Hub Lagos: Lagos-based member of the global Impact Hub network providing workspace, events, and programming for entrepreneurs and innovators. Operates in the same Lagos ecosystem with overlapping event and community activities targeting African founders.
• Seedstars: Swiss-based emerging markets investor and accelerator running pitch competitions and training programs across Africa. Comparable as a founder-support platform combining startup education, pitch events, and investor access in emerging markets.

Broad incumbents

• Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB): Nigeria's leading technology and innovation hub, also based in Lagos. Operates a much broader portfolio of programs (incubation, research, corporate innovation) that overlaps with Ventures Dialogue's founder support and ecosystem-building activities, but at significantly greater scale.
• Founder Institute (FI): Global pre-seed accelerator running structured founder training and pitch events across multiple markets, including Africa. Comparable in entrepreneurship training and cohort-based programming, but with global brand and larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCgaecf9JHB4fS07gc6fzMpA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/venturesdialogue

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ventures Dialogue