Hakeem Jimo is a Vegan entrepreneur who co-founded VeggieVictory together with Bola Adeyanju - Nigeria's pioneer plant-based restaurant turned food company. VeggieVictory started in 2013 as a restaurant, before introducing VegChunks, the first commercially produced meat substitute in Nigeria, which emanated from the urge to provide for vegan needs, and now available in QSR in Nigeria and many other stores nationwide. VegChunks is a food option for people prone to non-communicable diseases, those looking for more affordable protein sources, and of course lifestyle changes.

In 2013 it started as Nigeria's first plant-based restaurant and is now the country's first mover plant-based food tech company. Hakeem has a Nigerian-German background and was a communication professional before VeggieVictory.

Key interview highlights:

• Entrepreneurship is a process that may not yield exponential results until after two years or more. The early stage is a period to network, invest energy, organic funds, and time to build the business and create traction. 
• Organic funding (self-investment or investment from family or friends and then funds from business cash flow) at the start-up stage is important before pursuing external funding from investors.
• Investors often expect a founder to be 100% dedicated to their venture when seeking external funding. Investors want to feel confident that the founder is fully vested and dedicated to the success of the venture.
• Fundraising is a journey that requires getting trained to become investment-ready. Look for training or accelerators/incubators to get the skills needed to pursue angel, venture capital, or private equity funding. 
• Grants are a good funding alternative. However, be mindful because you cannot build a business on grants alone. 
• Angel investors are easier to work with compared to development institutions, and venture capitalists. Angels offer small ticket sizes that give the right-size funding needed by some SMEs to evolve. 
• Angel investment can convince other investors to invest in your business faster than if you have only been funded by grants.

Social Media: @veggievictory.com

@vegchuncks.africa

@Africavegannigeria

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