Lessons Learned: Blitz from Whiteboard to Tomorrow's Launch 🚀
- Founder's Notes: From Whiteboard to Launch
- Blitz Launch Update
- Community Update
- Ecosystem Updates
📮 Founder's Notes
A behind-the-scenes look at how we brought Blitz to life, from ideation to launching a landing page.
When I started working on Blitz, it stemmed from a clear need: providing continued support for early-stage companies after they gained initial traction.
I realized that The Beta Collective’s vision wasn’t just about helping founders get started — it was about ensuring they had access to the right resources to accelerate, sustain, and scale their ventures.
However, the “how” — the exact solution — wasn’t immediately clear. Blitz emerged as a response to this gap, designed to bridge the funding and resource divide for African innovators.
How Primary Research Helped
Having spoken to over 20 African founders at the time, I started noticing a pattern.
While early-stage startups face a range of challenges, one problem stood out above all: funding.
Of course, we could have tackled multiple issues based on what we thought would be most compelling, but I wanted to ground my decisions in real data. The insights from my conversations helped narrow my focus during the ideation and conceptualization phase. Without this primary research, I might have spread myself too thin or built something that didn’t truly resonate with our target users.
The Design Process
Armed with sticky notes, markers, and whiteboards, Damola and I began our design sessions. We started by defining the core problem:
- What challenge were we solving?
- Who was affected by it?
- What were their most painful struggles?
It quickly became clear that we had a two-sided market:
- On one side: Academic innovators, early-stage founders, and growth-stage founders looking for funding and visibility.
- On the other side: investors etc seeking users on the other side
With limited resources, we couldn’t tackle both sides at once. So, we prioritized the founder side — helping them gain global visibility and access to funding opportunities.
I have documented our process in a lot more detail on medium (link below), but here are some key lessons from the process.
Key Lessons from the Blitz Process
Building Blitz wasn’t just about launching a product — it was about solving a real problem in a way that truly served founders. Here are some key lessons:
🎯 User research is essential. Before designing anything, I took the time to listen. Talking to founders early on helped me narrow my focus and build something that actually mattered.
🎯 Surround yourself with the right people. From brainstorming sessions with Damola to getting insights from Wade, having a supportive community enhanced the process. You don’t have to build alone.
🎯 Start with clarity, not complexity. We could have tried tackling both sides of the market at once, but we didn’t. We started with one problem, one audience, and one goal — and that made execution much more manageable.
🎯 You don’t need perfection to launch. The landing page wasn’t the final product, but it was a critical step in validating our concept, messaging, value prop and general interest. Sometimes, you just need to ship and iterate later.
In the next phase, I’ll share how we moved from a landing page to a working MVP.
Read full article here, with more detailed process
Community
Updates from The Beta Collective Community by Priscilla
🚀 Blitz Launches Tomorrow! 🎉
The wait is finally over! Blitz goes live TOMORROW, March 7th! We've spent months building a platform designed to take the guesswork out of funding for African founders, and now it's your turn to experience it firsthand.
Blitz is built to save you time, effort, and frustration by bringing relevant funding opportunities straight to you. No more endless searches. No more rejections because you didn’t meet hidden criteria.
With Blitz, you’ll get:
✅ A curated directory of funding opportunities tailored for African startups.
✅ Real-time updates on grants, VC funding, accelerators, and alternative funding sources.
✅ A simple way to find the right investors without wasting time.
We built Blitz because we know the struggle. You shouldn’t have to waste time chasing dead-end leads. No more applying for funding that was never meant for you. Just real opportunities, for real founders, making real impact.
Be the first to explore Blitz when we go live tomorrow!
📢 Join Our WhatsApp Community!
We’re taking things to the next level! Our WhatsApp community is now LIVE, and we want YOU to be part of it.
Here’s what you’ll get:
🔹 Funding alerts – Get notified the moment new opportunities drop.
🔹 Ecosystem insights – Stay ahead with the latest trends, news, and founder spotlights.
🔹 Exclusive networking – Pitch your startup, connect with other founders, and exchange ideas.
🔹 Beta Collective updates – Be the first to hear about everything happening with us.
Whether you're actively raising funds, scouting for resources, or just want to stay informed, this is where you need to be.
Ecosystem
News, Events, and Updates by Priscilla
News
📉 Africa’s Startup Funding Crisis Deepens as Mastercard Foundation Pulls Out
African startups face another funding blow as Mastercard Foundation withdraws its $100M commitment to 54 Collective, Africa’s most active investor in 2024. This comes at a time when startup funding has been declining since 2022, dropping 25% year-on-year to $2.2B in 2024.
🔹 The Fallout & Impact
The withdrawal will result in:
❌ Layoffs at 54 Collective – The firm is shutting down its venture studio, which provided crucial support for early-stage startups.
❌ Fewer funding opportunities – Startups reliant on the firm for capital and mentorship will now struggle to secure investment.
❌ Increased uncertainty – Investors and founders worry this could further hurt Africa’s already fragile funding ecosystem.
🌍 A Call for Self-Sufficiency
Industry leaders, including Flutterwave co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, stress the need for less reliance on Western philanthropy. The sentiment is clear: African startups must focus on building sustainable businesses, independent of external funders.
💡 What This Means for Founders
Now more than ever, African entrepreneurs must adapt by:
✅ Exploring alternative funding models (angel investors, local VCs, crowdfunding).
✅ Building resilient business models that don’t rely solely on external capital.
✅ Strengthening pan-African collaboration to create self-sustaining ecosystems.
Funding and Resources
✈️Paper Plane: Empowering African Startups for Global Scale
Paper Plane is a 7-week hybrid program designed for pre-seed and seed-stage African startups with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The program provides:
🔹 Investor Matching & Funding – Connect with VCs and accelerators for potential pre-seed and seed investments.
🔹 Market Exposure – Gain insights into African markets and business ecosystems.
🔹 Learning & Mentorship – Hands-on training, panel discussions, and peer-to-peer learning.
🔹 Fully Funded Immersion Week – Concludes with an all-expenses-paid trip to Morocco for in-depth networking and market access.
📌 Eligibility: Must be an incorporated African startup with a tech-enabled solution, proven traction, and global scalability potential.
💡 Applications Now Open!
⚡ RAISEAfrica 2025: Empowering Renewable Energy Innovators
RES4Africa Foundation has launched the 2025 edition of RAISEAfrica, a program designed to support young African entrepreneurs driving renewable energy innovation.
🔹 Who Can Apply?
✔️ Entrepreneurs aged 18-35 from across Africa
✔️ Startups focusing on renewable energy, digitalization, circular economy, and new business models
✔️ Both early-stage and scaling projects
🔹 Program Highlights
💰 Funding & Awards – €3,000 entry token + up to €10,000 for "Young Talent of the Year"
📈 Pre-Accelerator & Accelerator Tracks – Business development & scaling support
🤝 Mentorship & Networking – Connect with investors, industry leaders & partners like Enel Green Power & European Investment Bank
🌍 Global Exposure – Showcase ideas at high-profile events
📅 Application Deadline: March 14, 2025
🔗 Apply Now!
Events
🌍 Tech Unite Africa 2025
Tech Unite Africa is Africa’s biggest networking platform for the tech industry, bringing together tech companies, professionals, and business leaders to explore cutting-edge innovations. The event features seminars, training sessions, and conferences on technology development in Africa.
📅 Date: March 27, 2025
📍 Location: Muson Convention Center, Lagos, Nigeria
💡 Why Attend?
- Network with top tech innovators and business leaders.
- Explore the latest technological advancements.
- Attend insightful seminars and training sessions.
- Discover partnership and investment opportunities.
🔗 Register Now: Tech Unite Africa
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