What kind of companies do you invest in?
Technology startups
What is the average check size you give?
$100k to $300k in the pre-seed round, and we double down on the winners on their next rounds and that goes from $300k to $1m.
At which stage do you invest?
We typically start our engagement with technology startups in the Pre-seed round, basically the first money in round
Do you follow-on invest after Pre-seed ?
Yes we do, we double down on our “winners” and we typically lead their Bridge to Seed / Seed rounds
Do you invest after Seed?
Yes, we typically protest our Pro-rata allocation for our portfolio companies beyond the Seed round
What is an ideal pitch deck Nama looks for?
We have written a blog posts that gets in detail regarding what we perceive as the deal pitch deck https://www.namaventures.com/what-does-nama-ventures-look-for-in-pitch-decks
After applying, when will we hear back from you?
We strive to answer everyone that has submitted within 10 business days
What kind of response shall I expect?
We answer in three ways:-
- We like what we see and lets scheduled a Zoom
- We don’t have enough information and we send you an email asked for the ideal pitch deck
- We send you an email stating that your startups does not fit the fund’s investment thesis
What do you look for in founders?
Nama doesn’t invest in solo founders, so the most important category is having a founding team
How can you help us other than money?
We are value added investors, we help startups develop by mentoring, coaching and by connecting them with people whom they can add value to
Do you take board seats?
Yes we do, we are an active investor so we would be asking for a board seat / observing board seat to have an active engagement with our founders
How do you work with your companies post-investment?
We are active investors, we sit on boards, we ask for monthly investor updates, and we review quarterly financials
What’s your history as investors?
You can get a better understanding of Mohammed alzubi’s background, our Managing Partner, https://www.namaventures.com/mohammed-alzubi-extended-bio/
What do you avoid in investing in?
- We typically don’t invest in solo founders
- We don’t invest in non-tech startups
- We don’t invest in startups that compete with our portfolio companies
- We don’t invest in startups that have outsourced their development to a development services company
- We typically don’t invest when a startup’s founding team does not have complementary skill sets
What are the criteria you look into when evaluating a startup?
- Fit our geography which is MENA, Nigeria and Pakistan
- Stage of deal, we invest in pre-seed stage
- Team
- Complementary Skill Sets
- Role Clarity