VC Firm Oui Capital Emerges – USD 10 Mn And Costless Mentorship For African Tech Startups
Ex-Investment Vice President at Ingressive Capital, Olu Oyisan has launched his own VC firm to fund early-stage tech startups in Africa. USD 10 Mn has been provided as part of the Oui Capital project, tailored to promote growth among tech-enabled enterprises in the continent.
Oui Capital has been contrived by Oyinsan alongside other partners to bridge the funding gap between high-growth startups and available capital by offering pre-series A financing. Focusing on fintechs, mobility, innovative healthcare, edtech and two-sides marketplaces, Oyisan, who is Managing Partner at the VC firm, believes that the availability of funding for emerging ventures in these sectors would be a catalyst to African wealth and impact.
AWA Bike and MVXchange are currently in the fund’s portfolio and startups such as Paystack alongside the aforementioned play nicely into Olu’s experience in fintech and mobility investments. Since Africa is in the process of transformation aided by technology, it becomes essential for ventures such as Oui Capital to provide financing that would plunge the continent into a growth pattern similar to the Asian decade-old boom which created more than 200 unicorns to date, according to the VC firm.
Forthwith, Oui Capital is expected to provide between USD 50 K and 150 K for eight African startups with provable growth and annual impact potential. Oyisan has teamed up with Swiss serial entrepreneur and Techstars mentor, Francesco Andreoli, who has revealed that interaction with 100 ‘techpreneurs’ in Africa emphasised access to early-stage financing as a huge difficulty. Andreoli, who is also a former software engineer at IBM. would also serve in the capacity of a mentor for the startups the VC firm would be working with. The mentorship, which African entrepreneurs are also cut off from, would be given fee-free to portfolio-included companies under an initiative called The Mentor’s Fund.
In an official statement, it is reported that Oui Capital has created a pool of mentors from all over the world who are subject matter experts critically needed by young companies who are looking to access or double advisory at no additional cost. To make this possible, the fund has names such as Gbenga Oyebode – Managing Partner, Aluko & Oyebode – a Lagos-based law firm, and Shyam Kamadoli – Managing Partner of AVG blockchain fund on its board of advisors, focusing on companies providing scalable solutions to address Africa-peculiar setbacks.
Africa, having proven by a myriad of sources to be attractive for investments, should be in the reception of well-deserved funds alongside such mentorship. While the continent yet has a technological mile to make up for an equally growing population, local venture capital firms are expected to perform their best in assisting and scaling up their portfolio companies. Oyisan may have recorded success from his former engagements at Ingressive Capital, but if his strides are in the right direction, the strategies should be replicated in the newly-launched fund.
Image Courtesy: brandpa
