Fundraising is one of the most challenging things in the startup journey. You have to meet the investors inside and outside your country.
This is my sharing about my fundraising tour last month – From Dubai to Kenya.
From the sharing, you can understand more about the fundraising work and decide if you want to do this or not.
I support a blockchain real estate marketplace, Meta365, and a real estate developer, Hung Vuong Group, to meet investors in Dubai and Kenya.
My first impression of Dubai is the automation of check-in at the airport. It’s fast and very convenient, with only a 1-minute check-in, compare to 30minute – 1 hour in Vietnam (or 2 hours in Kenya).
My second impression of Dubai is many big buildings of different shapes. They were built among a desert. Burj Khalifa is a unique building in the world
The taxi is clean. The road is big, with no traffic jams.
We meet the Dubai Representative of Investors to discuss the work. Everything is fine because we work with them online before that.
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And the next challenging step, fly to Nairobi (the city of Kenya) to meet the beneficiary of the money. Why?
Because Dubai is the representative office, like Singapore. The real people who are the owner of the money don’t stay here. They stay in the countries like Kenya, and Sudan.
My first impression of Nairobi is the very small airport with the very slow check-in.
My second impression of Nairobi is the soldiers everywhere. When we come to the hotel or go any restaurant, the places also have soldiers (with guns) to check every detail
The fundraising challenge start:
On the first day: We deal with the representative company about the money we need to raise (50 million), the payment terms (expire in 10 – 12 years), with the interest rate and commission.
Second day: A security company will come to do the due diligence about our personal profile
Third day: The security company will arrange for us to meet the beneficiary of the money in Nairobi to discuss and confirm all the terms last time.
Fourth day: We are arranged to come to see the 50 million USD – money box. 2 big boxes (25 million USD each) are kept around 10 security guys with guns. It seems Kenya is like China at this point (always keep cash in their house)
We come to a small room to open and check the money with the beneficiary. To be honest, the experience is unique during my fundraising life – It’s very scary and very excited.
After confirming, our team, the beneficiary, the security lead, and the representative come to the restaurant – The Zen to eat and discuss the next step.
Last day, we meet the security company to do the paperwork to transfer the ownership of 2 money boxes from the Kenya beneficiary to our company. That means, we will own the 2 boxes if it’s delivered outside Kenya.
We fly back to Vietnam on the same day. 5 days in Kenya is enough.
In the current situation, we are temporarily pending the deal. Because the representative company changes the terms at the last minute. We can’t go to the final agreement, so we stop the deal.
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3 lessons I learn from the journey:
1)Don’t hear from the people who haven’t done that before
Before the trip, everybody said Kenya is dangerous, don’t come here.
I ask:”Did you come to that before?”. They said, “No, I read in the newspaper”.
“Well, I will come here. And tell you the truth when I come back” – I said
Kenya has good weather, and Nairobi is one of the top 3 cities in Africa. They are the same as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam
2)Do the new things:
When I told the story to my VCs, Finance Friends, they are very surprised. Because this fundraising trip brings a unique experience.
I won’t have this experience if I don’t do that with my team
3) Don’t be influenced by the big rewards:
50 million USD is a big reward if we can close the deal. But if the terms are invalid, you shouldn’t chase them at all costs. Opportunities are a lot and you can find other ones.
(End)
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Fundraising Coach 
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