Problem Validation Idea Lab — Real Sector × Financial Technology 🚀
Too many early-stage startups fail not because of execution, but because the problem wasn’t validated properly.
This Idea Lab is a closed, working session focused on problem validation in two of Africa’s most important and investable sectors: the Real Sector and Financial Technology.
Rather than pitching ideas, we’ll slow down and do the real work early founders often skip, pressure-testing whether a problem is real, urgent, and worth solving in complex, capital-intensive environments.
What this session is
A hands-on working session
Focused on validating problems before building products
Designed for founders actively building or seriously ideating
What we’ll cover
A practical framework for problem validation (slides + walkthrough)
How problem validation differs in fintech and the real sector
Common traps founders fall into when validating ideas in regulated or operationally heavy industries
How to distinguish venture-scale problems from “nice-to-have” ideas
The session will be led by Antler partners with deep operating experience:
Lola Masha – Co-founder of Babban Gona, sharing lessons from building and scaling in the real sector
Anil Atmaramani– 15+ years building and operating businesses across the real sector
They’ll share how they identified real problems, what they look for early, and how they pressure-test ideas before committing capital or teams.
Founders will:
Build out a problem tree for their own idea
Stress-test assumptions with peers and partners
Get direct feedback on urgency, customer pain, and feasibility
Present refined problem statements and next validation steps
Who should attend
Founders building or ideating in FinTech (payments, lending, infra, compliance, wealth, embedded finance, etc)
Founders exploring opportunities in the Real Sector (agriculture, logistics, manufacturing, health, energy, trade, etc.)
Operators and domain experts considering turning lived experience into a startup
Format
Closed, curated session
Limited seats to keep discussions practical and honest
Off-record by design
If you’re early in your journey and want to avoid building the wrong thing, this is the work that saves months later.
Apply to join!