Much of my work for this summer was done in anticipation of the Investment Expo that will happen at the end of August. This is the first time that the Business Development Center is hosting an Angel Investment expo. Angel investors will be coming from all around the US to potentially partner with local business owners. Each day of the expo, business owners will have the opportunity to present their business with the hopes of retaining investments. Many of these business owners do not have accessibility to capital and therefore have been generally limited in their growth and expansion. The right investment at the right time can be the difference maker Rwanda business men and women.
The many inherent risks for individuals wanting to invest economically and socially in developing countries can be mitigated. A side car fund is when a lead investor decides to pull in other investors together so as to limit some of these risks. It is a pooled investment vehicle that invests alongside an angel group. A side car fund allows for better diversification of resources as well as for more overall impact. The legal work I did focused on creating the incorporating documents to be used for the fund. The legal complexity of setting up the side car fund in the US in order invest in an emerging market was explored using both securities and corporate law. Local and small businesses in Rwanda will have an unprecedented influx of investments to transform entire regions of east Africa. The bottom down effective of an investment into a local business can be truly inspiring.