WIC Gestion, manager of the WIC Capital fund, is pleased to announce its investment in Les Ateliers de Corinne (LADC), a small and growing business (SGB) based in Dakar (Senegal) and specialized in digital culinary marketing, the organization of cooking workshops and cake design.
WIC Capital invested through a mix of equity and quasi-equity, with the participation of local individual investors and the Délégation Générale à l’Entreprenariat Rapide des Femmes et des Jeunes (DER). This participation is WIC Capital’s third investment, taking the total amount syndicated into Women Led SMEs in the region to close to XOF 500 million CFAF (~USD 900k).
Les Ateliers de Corinne was launched in 2014 by Corinne Erambert. She combined her passion for cooking with her digital knowledge to become one of the major food influencers in Senegal. Les Ateliers de Corinne is also a cake design company which organizes cooking workshops. WIC Capital’s investment will allow the company to scale up, by financing the acquisition of professional equipment, the recruitment of a professional team and the installation into new premises.
Ms. Corinne Erambert, founder of Les Ateliers de Corinne, commented: “I am delighted with this partnership which reinforces the image and development potential of the brand. WIC Capital is an investor whose added value goes far beyond the capital it provides. Despite the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, WIC Capital has believed in us. This strong support will allow us to increase our production capacity to meet the demand but also to accelerate our growth. »
Speaking on behalf of WIC Gestion, Ms. Évelyne Dioh SIMPA, Executive Director of the fund, said: “We are pleased to support the development of a small business led by a young and dynamic entrepreneur, who has developed several activities in parallel. We believe that Les Ateliers de Corinne has the potential to become a key food brand in Senegal and West Africa. It is by enabling the development of this type of small and growing businesses that we will strengthen the African private sector, contributing to job creation, innovation and GDP growth.
We are happy to invest in the food industry, particularly baking activities and digital marketing, two sectors that have been resilient to the COVID 19 crisis. We are proud to navigate this period alongside Corinne.”
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About WIC Capital (www.wic-capital.net)
WIC Capital was established by the Women’s Investment Club Senegal (www.wicsenegal.com) in 2019, with the vision of giving women entrepreneurs access to modern financing instruments for inclusive development. The fund is the first investment mechanism to provide appropriate financing and support to women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Senegal and West Africa.
WIC CAPITAL’s objective is to identify, nurture and develop a portfolio of promising start-ups and women-led SMEs, but also to ensure that they become high-growth businesses that can participate in the expansion of the economies of Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
