Heva Fund, which describes itself as ‘Africa’s first dedicated finance, business support and knowledge facility for creative industries’, has aannounced that 76 people in East Africa have qualified for the next cohort of its creative business support. 

It had received up to a total of 430 applications from across the region.

Of the successful applicants 14 are from Rwanda, 40 Kenya, 11 Uganda, seven Tanzania and four from Ethiopia, according to a press release.

"The successful applications will undergo several stages such as the business panel to look at the viability of these businesses, a creative panel that will look at the products and market fit, and a pitch panel that will interrogate the businesses deeper to better understand their alignment to the criteria of the Fund,” it added.

"Heva is committed to allocating capital to the creative sector, and we are particularly excited about being able to expand to the rest of East Africa, especially at a time like this when availability of capital is limited,” Wakiuru Njuguna, Heva Partner and Investment Manager, is quoted as saying in the statement.

He added: "We are cognisant of the particular challenges that businesses in this sector face, and, as a result, we hope that the impact of this facility will be a testament to more capital allocation to East African businesses in the creative sector.

"Our goal is to commit more capital, as we are looking to raise US$20 million for the regional sector in the next three years.”

Heva is Africa’s first creative economy catalyst programme that works in the Eastern African region with continental and international networks since 2013.

It has innovated financial models, specifically for the Eastern African creative economy, directly investing in more than 40 creative businesses and supporting over 8,000 creative practitioners in diverse ways, it says.

Beneficiaries are in various fields including fashion, digital content and television, live music, gaming value-chains, among others.