In Pursuit of Scale - The Strategies of Africa-Focused Venture Investors

The Flip

Venture Capitalists, generally speaking, are looking to fund high-growth ventures that have the potential to scale and achieve virtually infinite returns. But achieving that scale is hard, even more so in Africa, where there are market size questions, fragmented markets, and regulatory considerations. As a result, venture investors are looking for a specific type of founder and entrepreneur - one who has demonstrated the potential to pull it off and achieve the growth and scale investors are seeking.

In the African early-stage ecosystem, with its funding scarcity, limited track record, talent shortage, and expansion challenges, how do venture investors reconcile their quest for funding high-growth ventures in this environment?

2:24 - defining venture capital, courtesy of Stratechery's Ben Thompson and his blog post What is a Tech Company: https://stratechery.com/2019/what-is-a-tech-company/
3:59 - VCs are looking for scale, and talent capable of achieving the desired scale, with Microtraction's Chidinma Iwueke & Dayo Koleowo + TLCom Capital's Ido Sum
8:14 - a discussion on scarce deal flow and a lack of investable startups, with Dayo & Digest Africa's Peter Kisadha
10:46 - 4Di Capital's Justin Stanford + Ido talk about the need to balance their portfolios to account for the realities of the African market...
11:46 - ...but a balanced portfolio doesn't mean lesser return expectations
13:35 - how venture builders like Founders Factory Africa & Lwazi Wali are supporting entrepreneurs through their journey to scale
16:14 - GreenTec Capital Partner & Maxime Bayen on their results for equity initiative
17:58 - Lwazi + Startupbootcamp Africa's Zachariah George & global venture capitalist Alex Lazarow on achieving incentive alignment through initiatives like corporate VC and evergreen funds
23:32 - a discussion with Justin & Sayo on venture investing in Africa