Job Description
In this position, you will work with the team’s other investment professionals to screen, perform due diligence, negotiate, and close seed and early-stage direct investments.
Responsibilities
PIPELINE & PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (40%)
- Lead and represent Mercy Corps Ventures in the Nigerian market
- Work with the investment team to grow and foster new relationships with strategic partners such as incubators, accelerators, peer investors, and other ecosystem actors in target geographies and sectors.
- Generate and screen approximately 300-400 new investment opportunities per year
- Foster and manage partnerships in the Nigerian market
PIPELINE ANALYSIS AND INVESTMENT DUE DILIGENCE (50%)
The Investment Associate will lead our fund’s activities in Nigeria and take a leading role in diligence on deals in this market. They will support the investment team in progressing investments through the entire investment cycle, from initial screening to due diligence and closing. They will be empowered to present investment opportunities to the Mercy Corps Ventures Board of Directors and Investment Committee, as well as collaborate with senior Mercy Corps leadership. This includes:
- Landscaping & Pipeline Analysis: Mapping of investment opportunities in specific priority sector(s) for Mercy Corps Ventures.
- Screening: Screening investment opportunities through review of pitch decks, participation in live demo days, meeting entrepreneurs, pouring through data rooms, and management of our inbound deal flow.
- Due Diligence: Conducting detailed data room analysis and interviews with relevant industry experts and partner investors to review and analyze business plans, validate assumptions, stress-test financial forecasts, gain an in-depth knowledge of a company’s unit economics, and address key due diligence inquiries and investment risks.
- Investment Research: Conducting and presenting research as needed in areas such as analysis of market opportunities, threats, competitive differentiation, and potential headwinds to emergent sectors or markets, as necessary to support investment decisions.
- Investment Documentation: Attending all investment team meetings and investment committees and supporting investment professionals to lead deals through our investment process, including drafting investment memoranda, identifying and explaining key investment risks, coordinating legal and financial DD, structuring and negotiating transaction agreements, and presenting investment opportunities to senior decision-makers.
- Investment Recommendation: Making recommendations on and presenting investment opportunities to the Ventures Team, Investment Committee, and Board for debate and approval.
- Deal Structuring and Execution: Preparing investment documentation and other transaction documents, as applicable, and supporting the coordinated onboarding of closed investments into Mercy Corps Venture’s investment portfolio with applicable handoffs to the Platform Team.
RESEARCH & INSIGHTS (10%)
- Content Generation: Supporting the investment team and working with Mercy Corps Venture’s Communications team to develop curated content through insight pieces to be shared externally.
Supervisory Responsibility
Potential supervisory role for analysts, investment officers, fellows, and/or interns hired in the market
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Partner, Investments, Mercy Corps Ventures
Works Directly With Investment team members, entrepreneurs, co-investors, and ecosystem partners, with exposure to the broader Mercy Corps Ventures team
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, and other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.
Qualification
- Preferred candidates will have a minimum of 5+ years of business experience with a background in corporate finance, investment banking, management consulting, startup operations, or venture building.
- Financial Analysis Ability: A strong grasp of finance and financial modeling – comfortable navigating and summarizing complex financial models in Excel.
- Fluency in fundamental financial terms, understanding of financial statements, and ability to evaluate a company’s financial performance and dissect a financial model with minimal oversight and guidance.
- Comfort assessing valuation methodologies and running valuation scenarios, stress testing model assumptions, and running scenario analysis would be ideal.
- You should possess an insatiable curiosity and experience in problem sets and solutions within fintech, web3, agtech, and/or climate-tech as well as a strong interest in venture capital in Africa. Knowledge of fundamental business concepts and a foundational grasp of venture capital is important.
- Strong connections with investors, angels, accelerators, and startups in Africa. You should be excited to support MCV in building our network of partners in the region.
- Fluent in written and spoken English (French is a plus)
Location: Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.
For More Information: INVESTMENT ASSOCIATE
