EP 64: From Student Housing Startup to Africa’s Largest Platform with DigsConnect's Alexandria Procter

Raising capital? Get a list of vetted VCs for FREE here: https://web.thunder.vc/list-of-investors-vcs-for-founders Get the latest fundraising insights, news, and tips: https://blog.thunder.vc/funding-101  ----------------------------------------------------- Alexandria Procter takes center stage on this episode of Fundraising Demystified to share how she transformed a local student housing problem into DigsConnect, now Africa's leading accommodation platform. From her early days tackling University of Cape Town's housing crisis to scaling across 400 cities, she opens up about building a tech company that's reshaping student living across the continent. For founders eyeing growth in developing markets, Alexandria delivers actionable insights on three key fronts: securing significant funding while operating from Africa (including details of their groundbreaking seed round), scaling effectively across diverse African markets, and building solid operational foundations with limited resources. She tops it off with fresh perspectives from her new role backing the next generation of African startups. Here's what you'll find in this episode: 00:00 Trailer 00:55 Introduction to Alexandria Procter and DigsConnect's origin story 07:32 Building the first MVP and initial market validation 11:20 Navigating South Africa's startup ecosystem challenges 13:15 Breaking records: Inside their successful seed round 18:31 Scaling across 400 African cities 23:21 Building and retaining top talent on a budget 24:27 Infrastructure challenges and innovative solutions 27:44 The shift from founder to investor 33:22 The Power of Story Telling 40:01 Future of African tech and advice for emerging market founders 48:12 Rapid-fire lessons ABOUT ALEXANDRIA PROCTER Alexandria Procter is the founder of DigsConnect, Africa's largest student housing marketplace, which she launched at age 24 while studying at the University of Cape Town. From building the initial MVP using Python and JavaScript, she's grown the platform to connect over 150,000 landlords and tenants across 400 cities worldwide, listing more than 1.3 million beds and generating tens of millions in lease value. Beyond entrepreneurship, she's made significant impacts in various spheres - from being appointed by President Ramaphosa as the youngest director of the National Youth Development Agency, where she successfully led the One Million for Democracy initiative, to founding House of Pharos, an SDG-aligned venture capital fund. Her achievements include becoming a published author with her national bestseller "Upstart" (2024), and establishing The Aviation Club, where she writes about tech, startups, and development economics. Connect with Alexandria on: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandriaprocter/?originalSubdomain=za Website: https://www.alexandriaprocter.com/ X: https://x.com/alexprocter101 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC01GpaeWH2ab3UQKcQAi5LA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandriaprocter__/ ABOUT JASON Jason Kirby is the co-founder of Thunder VC. He is a serial entrepreneur with 4 multi-million exits and decades of experience in fundraising and business building. He has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs in his career on fundraising, investing, capital strategy, and business development. You can reach out to Jason through: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrkirby/ ABOUT FUNDRAISING DEMYSTIFIED Our goal is simple: to equip you with the knowledge, inspiration, and guidance to navigate the labyrinthine world of fundraising. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking seed funding or an established founder looking to scale your business, this podcast will provide you with the tools you need to conquer the fundraising landscape. Thank you for being a loyal subscriber to Fundraising Demystified. We appreciate your support and are excited to continue bringing you more inspiring stories from successful founders.