Our investment criteria, and how to submit your project
A long-standing private equity player in West Africa since 1995, Cauris Management supports high-potential SMEs and industrial SMEs as they change scale. Three conditions settle whether a file is reviewed: check them before writing to us.
- High-potential targets
- SMEs / industrial SMEs
- Equity stake taken
- Minority
- Projection horizon
- 3-5 years
- Minimum amount reviewed
- 1.3bn FCFA (€2m)
Three conditions for a review
Our funding gateway applies these three conditions automatically. A file that fails one of them is set aside without review: better to know before spending time on it.
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01
Amount sought
1.3bn FCFA (€2m)
The review threshold, that is around 1.3bn FCFA (€2m) or USD 2.13m. Below it, the file falls outside the scope of our funds.
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02
Area of intervention
WAEMU, West and Central Africa
The eight WAEMU states first, extended to West and Central Africa. A head office outside that area stops the review.
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03
Nature of the financing
Equity
Equity, quasi-equity or mezzanine debt. We provide neither bank loans, nor grants, nor cash financing on its own.
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These three conditions say nothing about what follows: they only open the review. It is the detailed criteria further down that settle the investment decision.
Why set out clear investment criteria?
An investment fund is not a bank. Our business is to strengthen the equity of selected companies, to share their risk and to create value over time.
Explicit criteria protect the entrepreneur as much as the investor: they avoid ill-suited approaches, speed up the review of relevant files and lay the ground for a clear partnership.
Our investment criteria
We assess each opportunity against complementary criteria, combining the quality of the company, that of its team and the coherence of its growth project.
- 01
Company profile
- An SME or industrial SME with a proven or clearly demonstrable business model
- Strong potential for growth and lasting profitability
- A regional opening towards West Africa, a decisive asset
- 02
Executives and governance
- An experienced management team, committed and transparent
- Structured governance, or the will to professionalise it
- A clear view of value creation over 3-5 years
- 03
Market and positioning
- A growing market, identified demand, favourable trends
- A competitive advantage and added value clearly set out
- A coherent commercial strategy: offer, pricing, distribution
- 04
Terms of the stake
- A stake that is generally a minority one
- Stronger equity for better access to bank financing
- A privileged long-term partner, not a mere lender
Our area of intervention
The WAEMU area, first
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Guinea-Bissau
- Mali
- Niger
- Senegal
- Togo
Other countries in our investment area
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Liberia
- Mauritania
Nigeria remains outside our scope: its size calls for a strategy of its own.
Sectors we review
- Agribusiness and food processing
- Banking and financial services
- Telecoms and digital
- Energy
- Health and pharmaceuticals
- Retail and trade
- Hotels and tourism
- Transport and logistics
- Industry and equipment
- Business services
- Another sector
What we finance
Our intervention fits the company’s stage of development and its strategic need.
- Growth capital
Financing growth
Equipment, new products and services, opening a subsidiary, acquiring a competitor or diversifying.
Our growth capital offer - Venture capital
Creating
Creating a company that answers an identified market need.
Our venture capital offer
Submitting your project in five steps
The form guides you screen by screen. You can interrupt it and come back: nothing is sent before the last step.
- 01Your company
Registered name, country of the head office, sector, headcount and age. This is where the area of intervention is checked.
- 02Your figures
Turnover, profit and equity for the last financial year, in your own currency.
- 03Your need
Amount sought, instrument wanted, use of the funds and time horizon of the need.
- 04Your project
What the financing is to make possible, and the business plan attached to the file.
- 05Reaching you
Your name, your role and your contact details, so that our team can get back to you.
The structure of a convincing business plan
A methodical document of 15 to 20 pages, organised around four concerns.
Knowing your company
- History, legal form, capital and shareholding
- Presentation of the senior executives
- Business, added value and know-how
- Products or services and supplies
Knowing your environment
- Current and potential market, trends
- Positioning, share and rank
- Pricing, communication, distribution
- Competition and SWOT matrix
Projection over 3-5 years
- Products and services aimed at
- Target market shares and strategy
- Human, financial and technical resources
- Improvements to the organisation
Forecast financial statements
- Forecast income statements
- Forecast cash flows
- Forecast balance sheets
- Over a horizon of 3 to 5 years
The documents to attach
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All companies
Companies already trading
Development projects
Ready to submit your project?
If your company recognises itself in these criteria, we will give your file our attention. Prepare your business plan, gather your documents, then send your request to our team.