FAQ

After login, click on settings from your Dashbord and click on any of the sub-menus to change any details.

Know your customer or KYC is a process of identifying and verifying identities of customers. The term is commonly used to refer to governmental anti-money laundering regulations in banking, financial and stock market activities. KYC mostly incorporates four key elements: acceptance policy, identification procedures, transaction monitoring and risk management. KYC has its advantages as it can help with fighting the funding of terrorism and money laundering.

To change your password, please head over to the settings section on your dashboard and click on Password & Devices. Confirm current password, enter new password to update your password.

To delete your LaunchPAD account, please go to the settings on your dashboard and click on Profile. Delete account to close your account. Closing account means you will no longer be able to access this account on LaunchPAD

To reset your password, please click on login from the homepage then click on the Forgot Password link to reset your password.

Audit log is used to track every login activities by customers on our Platform for security auditing.

Two Factor Authentication is an extra layer of security enhancement to help protect our customers data and transactional activities from fraudsters. You can download any type of authenticator app; Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator to use for account protection. Two Factor Authentication requires account holder to verify a security code after entering password before access is granted into your account.

Anti-money laundering or AML is a set of regulations, instructions, laws and procedures, established to prevent the practice of generating illegal income and its legalization through specially designed actions. AML regulations oblige companies and financial institutions to vet their customers through due-diligence procedures and prove the legal source of a customer’s assets. Financial institutions must verify the origin of large sums of money, track suspicious activities and report large cash transactions. It’s also the responsibility of institutions to notify customers about AML practices and required procedures. AML is considered to be not only useful in stopping money laundering itself, but also in preventing illegal activities by discovering the source of this money, and helps to trace criminals through the tracking of financial flows. Still, AML is a strain on companies and may cause its development to slow down.

Referrals are used for marketing by LaunchPAD to reach more people; Startups or investors. Referrers are compensated for all referrals to us.

The disputes section is for customer support and complaints. Should you have any issues concerning activities on LaunchPAD, just hit the dispute section to send us a message.

The Overview gives you an overall summary of all account transactions on LaunchPAD. It's the first page you see after successful login.

LaunchPAD Africa is a crowdfunding, investment and savings portal connecting startups seeking capital with investors for equity and debt financing. The portal helps individuals plan and save for the future by putting away funds they don’t want to spend. We’ve partnered with microcredit, assets management and financial advisory institutions in other to provide these opportunities, and are fully incompliance with the Bank of Ghana and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) frameworks. The portal allows them to decide on daily, weekly or monthly savings plan towards a specific target funds for a specified period of time. The ease of use, makes LaunchPAD most convenient portal for individual saving needs.

Our operational costs are relatively low - we do not operate multiple branches or hire a lot of staff to manage operations. We are also able to negotiate premium rates due to volumes. All saved funds are kept with and managed by our partnered financial institution, registered and licensed by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which is extremely safe and guaranteed. A portion of the proceeds is then passed on to users as interests on their savings.

LaunchPAD Bonus is a way of rewarding our users for investing consistently. The more you invest on ProVest portfolios, the more you earn.

To be considered valid, a new user must: • Link their National issued ID and fund their wallet with at least GHS100 via a direct bank transfer to the LaunchPAD account number • Fund wallet using any other deposit funding methods with at least GHS 50. This could be MoMo, AirtelTigo Cash, Vodafone Cash, or any other digital wallets. Once any of these have been done, referral bonuses will be unlocked and released to your account at the maturity date. P.S: The funds need to be maintained in your wallet until the bonus has been paid

To check the status of people you referred, login to your account dashboard, then click Referrals.

Very much so. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) keeps a closer eye on us through our partnerships with our platform partners like, the Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) and the SG bank Ghana an affiliated Assets and Fund managers.

Our inspiration for starting LaunchPAD stems from the hurdles every African satrtup faces when trying to raise capital on the continent, irrespective of the jurisdiction, and our own experiences on numerous attempts to raise within the continent. We want to help more potential African founders get off the ground and take their shot which is why we're also raising on LaunchPAD to lead by example. Join us!

Qwik Invest enables you to invest a fixed amount on our low risk investment porfolios from our partners, which grants you easy access to profit and recurring capital.

Invest in startups and existing companies by purchasing units. LaunchPAD ProVest allows aspirring investors or already established investors to invest pre-vetted, low to medium risk startup or established business investment opportunities. It gives you the opportunity to diversify your investment portfolios.

All investment portfolios, including ProVest are pre-vetted to ensure maximum safety. Rest assure, due diligence are carried on all investment partners, and all funds are managed by our SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission, Ghana and Bank of Ghana - BoG licensed partners.

Most investment options listedon LaunchPAD ProVest have gone through proper vetting for insurance against loss. However, our insurance partners can provide Extra Protection on to your investment for maximum capital safety.

Your interest could be paid daily, monthly, quarterly or at the end of the investment period into your LaunchPAD Available Profit depending on the investment portfolio chosen.

The ProVest Shield Protection is an added layer of security provided by LaunchPAD insurance partners that ensures your capital is protected.

We don’t handle taxation. You, however, are liable to disclose your earnings and pay your taxes as stipulated by the government.

Yes, you can. However, to liquidate, you will need to trade the units you have already acquired with other existing investors or potential new investors. You set the price but a platform commission exists and it varies between 1% - 15% depending on the type of investment.

You can now convert your LaunchPAD Bonus to cash for either savings or investments.

The LaunchPAD is prohibited by law from touching your money. When you invest, your funds are transferred to an escrow account, in custody of the Consolidated Bank Ghana. If the fundraise succeeds, your money will be released to the startup. Otherwise, it will be refunded to you.

Very! You should only invest what you can afford to lose. Do not invest so much that it would impact your lifestyle or retirement plans. Every investment listed on LaunchPAD is much riskier than a public company listed on the stock market. It is entirely possible that you will lose every money you invest on LaunchPAD.

You are more likely to avoid loss by diversifying your investments, focusing on areas in which you have expertise, and investing in startups whose products you passionately use. Even professional investors have a difficult time predicting exactly how startups will earn money in the future (e.g., Google in 1999). Investing in what you know and find personally valuable is an important signal of a good investment.

We advice making several small investments each year rather than one large one. For instance, if you decide you can safely invest ¢5,000 per year in startups, it'll be less risky to make ten ¢500 investments instead of a single ¢5,000 one. You should never invest more than you can afford to lose.

No! It’s illegal for us to endorse or recommend any company. But even if it wasn’t illegal, we don’t want LaunchPAD to be a “gatekeeper” that picks and chooses which startups are worthy of funding. That’s for you to decide. No company on LaunchPAD – no matter where it appears on our website site – is endorsed by us. Also, while we may sometimes help companies “make their profiles look pretty”, all of this information is provided and fact-checked as true by the companies, not us.

If you can't afford to lose every money you invest on LaunchPAD, the answer is no. If you can't afford to wait 7+ years for a return, the answer is also no. You might have a strong belief in the future success of a company, but it's safer to think of an equity investment as a lottery ticket that might pay off in the very long term. Unlike the stock market, investment outcomes are much more binary (complete failure or wild success), and there's no stock market that'll allow you to easily re-sell your investment stake to someone else unless the company is acquired or prepares for an IPO.

Compared to equity investments, loans can be slightly less risky, but also have a smaller upside. You should still assume that even a loan will not be paid back. Never invest more than you can afford to lose.

We have investors from all around the world! With a few exceptions, we accept investments from international investors, as long as you represent that you are complying with the law in your country. To access our step by step guide on investing from outside Ghana, head over to our Blog.

Yes! To make an investment via an entity, you need to create a new LaunchPAD account using the entities official details.

Listed Plans are available projects from either newly formed Startups or existing businesses seeking funding for take off or growth. To invest in a project, you need to purchase a unit using payment cards or Mobile Money Services available through our integrated payment gateways. Note: Every project's unit varies depending on the expected amount to be raised by the owner.

Click on the "FOR ENTREPRENEURS" or the "RAISE FUNDS" on the homepage or the link below to submit your Startup for vetting after which it can be listed on LaunchPAD Africa to start raising the needed investments to either lift your idea off the ground or boost your capital requirement to scale. https://startups.bringtolive.com/

Stock, or a capital stock, is the number of all shares issued by a corporation. Startups and innovative technology projects are becoming more and more popular among potential investors, as they are very prospective from both the technical and financial sides. Currently, a lot of Startups offer stocks in order to raise money for future development. Besides technology stocks, some companies from various fields divide their capital into shares in order to have the possibility of gaining more money.

In equity financing, the startup offers investors a piece of ownership in the startup in exchange for funds. The investor is paying to own a part of the startup, which means that he also owns a share of the profits when the time comes. Read more on the Blog page

In debt financing, there’s no exchange of money for shares or equity. Instead, the startup collects loans i.e. gets investors to invest in exchange for a return on the capital, and a pre-agreed interest rate. Read more on the Blog page

The LaunchPAD platform provides startups free continued access, but there is no guarantee they will continue using our services.

We let investors own a small share of your company by helping you raise money from family, customers and friends, faster, so you can get back to what matters: building your startup.

Turn your most loyal customers into owners. Your customers are often your most passionate supporters. Every investor has a financial interest in helping your business succeed. Take for instance, if you own a restaurant and your customer is also your investor, he or she will likely eat or order more from there, and bring their friends more often. Looking to connect to a key person at a big company or want feedback on your service or product from an industry insider? A crowd of investors can help increase your potential.

No. You only need your lead investor to talk into signing off on any corporate actions. You choose the Lead Investor.

The main downside to using LaunchPAD is that, you're required to disclose your financials to the public. You can't raise on LaunchPAD If you are not comfortable doing this. Most of the other potential downsides are been resolved.

Yes. We can accept companies formed within Africa but not outside Africa. LaunchPAD Africa was built for Africa without borders in mind.

We intended LaunchPAD to fund everything from maize farms to space ships. Startups that fit one of these categories often raise money successfully: Leverage on the size of your network of friends, fans, supporters or customers by inviting them to invest in your brand. Are you working on something really cool and unique? Most Investors get excited about being part of something ambitious. Does your brand directly impacting people's lives? People like to invest in things that do good in the world. Do you have at least one investor investing on the same terms? Do you have some traction? Investors like proof you can execute.

LaunchPAD is built for early any type of company, be it a brick-and-mortar supermarket or a high-tech software startup, with a few exceptions. We rejects: Startups that do not have a concrete business plan, or whose primary business plan is to acquire other companies Companies.

We recommend before raising from the public, that you reach out to some potential investors (could be family and friends or some customers) you already know, and get them to make a commitment. Why would a stranger invest in you if the people who know you best won't?

Once your application has gone through the screening and verification, our team will help with structuring your campaign, then in minutes you can launch a pitch & start spreading the word. 1. Supporters can begin investing in your round immediately.

SmartSave empowers you to plan ahead or for miscelleanous expenses, like, your rent, birth of a child, birthday, school fees, etc. No one knows tomorrow, Let's run the race with you. Save and earn competitive percentage.

Every LaunchPAD savings and investment portfolios are well designed toward special needs. Are you an ardent saver, someone who loves to save on the regular? Or someone who loves to save towards a particular need like, rent, school fees, birthday or birth of a child and more? Or just for something geared towards the long-term higher interest rates? If you’re looking to get started on investments or widen your portfolio, and invest in what matters, then our pre-vetted, low-risk investment opportunities are for you.

To start saving on LaunchPAD: Visit the website or download the app to create an account. Set up your withdrawal account details; this is the bank account that funds you withdraw will get sent to. Choose any of our numerous Add Funds partners to make your first deposit. You may now proceed to start saving for your future by choosing any of the packages on daily, weekly or monthly savings.

You can start saving with as little as GHS50 and increase as you want.

You need to have filled your bank details in your withdrawal settings then, click on the "withdraw" option on your dashboard, enter the amount you want to withdraw and your funds will be transferred to your set bank account within the stipulated time (not more than 3 working hours).

The minimum amount you can withdraw is GHS50 and there is NO maximum. You can withdraw all of your funds whenever. However, fixed settlement withdrawal dates still apply. PS: You can ONLY withdraw once in 24hours.

As a business raising funds, investor or an individual saving on LaunchPAD, here is the breakdown of your settlement schedule. Your settlement is the payment that LaunchPAD has received on your behalf, that is being paid into your bank/mobile wallet account or held in your LaunchPAD wallet balance. There are a few ways you can receive your settlement: The funds can be received directly into your LaunchPAD balance We could pay directly into your bank/mobile wallet account (also known as your settlement account) Settlement cycles vary depending on your business location and whether or not the payment was local or international. Your balance reflects the total value of payments that have been received at the time, it can also be known as your Profit or Total balance.

Once you receive payments into your LaunchPAD wallet, your funds are automatically settled to you within 1-3 business days depending on the settlement schedule. Also, LaunchPAD allows you to do a manual payout to any account of choice; be it, bank or mobile wallet. Click on Payout in your dashboard to request manual payout.

Once you receive payments into your LaunchPAD wallet, your funds are automatically settled to you within 1-3 business days depending on the settlement schedule. The Transfer Money allows you to decide to have your funds sent to your business partner's or a family and friend bank/mobile wallet account manually, using LaunchPAD transfers, instead of the default automatic settlement.

No! it’s completely FREE. There are no bank charges for depositing money to your LaunchPAD Wallet for your savings or investments.

Yes, transfers from your LaunchPAD account to another LaunchPAD account count as a withdrawal

It's free to create and list a company profile on LaunchPAD. LaunchPAD charges 7.2% of the total fundraise, only if successful. For instance, if a company raises ¢100,000, we charge ¢7,200 upon close. There are no other fees. If you find a better price, we will match it.

When a campaign fails, a refund will automatically be sent back to the bank account or your payout details on file that was used to make the investment. Read our article section for an extended info

We initiate refunds as campaigns fail, but it can take a few weeks to reach you, especially if you invested with a check or wire or from abroad. Please check our article section for an extension of this info.

Yes. Startups may choose not to accept your investment for any reason. One reason may be that they discovered you worked for a major competitor. After the round closes, and the startup has countersigned the contract and received the funds, your investment can no longer be cancelled.

The fundraise round will close for certain at the Startup's offering deadline. However, almost always, a successful fundraise closes earlier. Additionally, some companies may do a "rolling close" after some days have passed and their minimum fundraising target is reached. When a round closes earlier, you will receive a five-day notice before the closing date via email.

You'll be notified via email and will receive a full refund of your investment.

Usually, you can expect your LaunchPAD wallet payout to take about 1-7 business days to process.

You can invest using a bank transfer (Ghana only), check, credit card, or wire transfer (international investors only). If you choose to pay by credit card, a card limit is applied. International investors can pay by wire transfer – investors recommend TransferWise. You'll likely to have to fund your Wefunder Cash (wefunder.com/cash) account with a wire and then go make your commitment to a specific company.

Yes, your funds are transferred to a custodian account, in custody of the Consolidated Bank Ghana. If the fundraise succeeds, your money will be released to the startup. Otherwise, it will be refunded to you.

You can send your payment in at any time during the fundraise, but you will want to make sure we have the payment by the time the fundraise closes or your investment application will be automatically canceled.

You can head over to your dashboard to see the status of your payment. The dashboard will show you where you are in the process of successfully submitting your application to invest. If you need to place your investment, you will also be able to do this here if the fundraise is still open and not oversubscribed.

When a payment fails, we send you an email. You can follow the instructions in the email to fix the failed payment. If you didn't get the email, you can try funding your account again to invest from your dashboard.

Check out our Bank Transfer page to get the IBAN number. You should be able to send a BIC/SWIFT wire through your bank as well. We recommend using TransferWise. If this proves difficult, you may need to contact customer support at [email protected]. Check the full international investor guide on our Blog page.

For international payments made by bank ACH, wires, or checks, LaunchPAD charges investors a transaction fee of 2%, with a minimum of $8 and a max of $100. For credit cards, LaunchPAD charges a 3.5% fee, with a minimum of $8. Fees are one time and are not reoccurring.

Your payment may still be pending because our payment partner may still be verifying your payment, before approval is granted. If your payment is still processing, here are our typical processing times. PLEASE CHECK OUR BLOG PAGE FOR THE EXTENDED INFO

The LaunchPAD Wallet account is a virtual wallet. Literally, the money is held by our third-party financial partners. Any funds you transfer into your wallet account can be withdrawn anytime or used to fund a company or used for the savings plan.

Unfortunately, investments cannot be cancelled once an order is placed.

LP Safes (SAFEs) are not common stock. Common stock represents an ownership stake in a company and entitles you to certain rights under state corporate law and federal securities law. A SAFE, on the other hand, is an agreement to provide you a future equity stake based on the amount you invested if—and only if—a triggering event occurs. SAFEs do not represent a current equity stake in the company in which you are investing. Instead, the terms of the SAFE have to be met in order for you to receive your equity stake. Read more at: investor.gov

A membership stake in a limited liability company (LLC). A person who holds a membership interest has a profit and voting interest in the LLC (although these may be amended by contract). Ownership in an LLC can be expressed by percentage ownership interest or membership units. Many real estate deals are IPAs or CrowdIPAs.

A Crowd Revenue Note provides payment flexibility to a business based on its performance, as payments made to investors will also vary. If the business performs better than expected, the investors will be paid in a shorter period of time. If the business performs worse than expected, the investors will be paid over a longer period of time. In each case, the cumulative payment amount is fixed, however, the rate of return on investment can fluctuate. As a result, a revenue-sharing note could potentially provide a rate of return similar to an equity investment. The tradeoff is that in using a revenue-sharing note, the investor forgoes the predictability of fixed payments that are available in a term note investment. Debentures continue to have a risk of loss of principal, no payments of interest or principal or guaranteed.

LP SPA (Stock Purchase Agreement) is an agreement between investor and company to purchase capital stock of the company.

An LP Term Note is structured like your car payment or mortgage – businesses are required to make fixed monthly or quarterly payments. The stated interest rate indicates the annualized return a business has agreed to pay for your investment. Debentures continue to have a risk of loss of principal, no payments of interest or principal or guaranteed.