Uzoma Bailey Ayogu

We launched FarmCloud 2.0-BETA some weeks ago and the feedback has been incredible. We just added 26 farms🌱 last week! From farmers in Nigeria🇳🇬 asking us to add certain varieties of Cocoa and Palm Oil onto the platform to farmers in South Africa🇿🇦, asking us to add the Rand currency to allow them to track expenses locally. We are building Africa's farm record-keeping tool, which will allow the new generation of farmers to digitise farm operations and connect to global markets with full traceability. From farmers farming crops in open fields to greenhouses or shadenets, FarmCloud-BETA has been taking feedback from our users to improve. We are now offering an integrated hardware and software offering that ensures farmers get an end-to-end solution for their needs. For us, we believe Ag cannot be a pure software play; you still need boots on the ground and a local presence to customize solutions to meet the needs of these users. Our agronomists visit these farms bi-weekly to review farming records, train farmers, and discuss market linkages, allowing us to create relationships that increase our intangible assets. We have been internally testing satellite imagery📡 to provide vegetation index and weather updates and this update will be pushed to BETA sometime this month. It will allow farmers to get weather forecasts or alerts, vegetation cover index information to guide fertiliser application and allow our enterprise users to have a supply chain view of their out-grower farmers. Now, it still needs improvement, we know there is so much we need to do, but with a local team here in Nairobi, we are pushing updates and features easily and getting to speak to our users promptly. If you have been our early BETA user, thank you for trusting us with your farm operations and data. Most importantly, thank you for accommodating our bugs 🐞 , we promise to quash them.🔨

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I recently read an article published by TechCrunch on the 1st of September that touched on a significant issue on the minds of many tech investors interested in Africa: why are exits so few on the continent? I found a few points quite thought-provoking. While the space has recorded some big wins, such as BioNTech's $680 million acquisition, SendWave's $500 million acquisition by WorldRemit (now Zepz Group), DPO's acquisition by Network International for $291 million, and Paystack's acquisition by Stripe for $200 million, these numbers, though impressive, raise the question of whether they are good enough. This is especially true considering that about $20 billion has been attracted into the space. Comparing the exit values to the total funding raised, there seems to be a significant gap. For a moment, I pondered this, and I believe that breaking down the data might provide context that could enrich our understanding and pave the way for deeper conversations. The truth is that looking at the data this way might not be an apples-to-apples comparison for some reasons. Firstly, while 2014 may be considered the golden age of venture capital in Africa, more than half of the $20 billion was raised in just two years—2021 ($6 billion) and 2022 ($6.5 billion)—due to the abundance of capital during that period, driven by favorable macroeconomic circumstances beyond anyone's control. If we also look at exits, we see that the majority of large exits were influenced by these same macroeconomic factors, which made exits easier than they would be in tougher economic situations. Great companies were able to leverage these opportunities. Out of the eight exits mentioned, three occurred between 2020 and 2021, a period when exits performed exceptionally well globally. Extending the timeline further, seven out of the eight exits happened between 2020 and 2024. None of these companies were formed in 2021 or 2022, which led to the funding boom; the average age from founding to exit is approximately 10 years, with Paystack being the youngest, founded in 2015. Following this trend, we see that investments made in 2020–2022, during the period of the most significant funding growth, will still take time to materialize. These investments will benefit if global macroeconomic conditions become favorable, making exits easier. We may need to shift from a short-term, year-on-year perspective to a longer-term horizon to appreciate the future potential if we focus on building great companies now. The jury is still out on African tech exits, but I think there is hope. https://lnkd.in/dwPCCeXq

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"It's not a matter of choosing between local and global; it's about building solutions that can thrive in both." Thanks to WeeTracker and Henry Nzekwe for discussing and highlighting the exciting journey of African startups going global with me. I proudly shared approaches adopted by Ingressive Capital in supporting our portfolio companies in building world-class companies. The article features the success stories of our portfolio companies (+ Exits) including: Bamboo which just announced expansion to Canada Paystack whose early strategic focus on infrastructure laid the groundwork for international success and made them attractive for international acquisition as well as fast-growing businesses like Mono and Carry1st. We dove into the challenges and opportunities for founders looking to expand internationally, and why a strong local foundation is key to success. Check out the article to learn more about building for the world!

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After I wrote about the TechCrunch article regarding exits in Africa, a few people reached out to me for further clarity about exits. In this post, I am going to break down what an exit means in venture capital and the pathways to achieving it. In simple terms, an exit is the process that allows you to "cash out" on your investment to generate returns. There are three main paths to exit for VCs: acquisitions, initial public offerings (IPOs), and secondary exits. However, IPOs appear to struggle in Africa. Acquisitions involve a startup being acquired by a larger company, like WorldRemit acquiring Sendwave for $500 million. Then there are IPOs, where a company lists on a stock exchange. This is often followed by an increase in the share price at the time of listing, and after a period, investors can sell all or part of their shares. Secondary exits occur when investors sell their shares to another investor, possibly during subsequent funding rounds. One reason exits are fewer in Africa is that IPOs as an exit path are almost non-existent. In markets like the U.S., IPOs make up a significant portion of exits, although they still trail behind acquisitions. IPOs are rare in Africa due to underperforming capital markets. The few startups that have attempted an IPO often look to developed markets like the NYSE, as Jumia did in 2019. Interestingly, Fawry, an Egyptian startup, listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange. In August 2019, Fawry offered 36% of its shares, which were oversubscribed by 30.3 times, making it the first Egyptian startup to reach unicorn status. I think the story of Fawry provides some indication that it is possible. The question then becomes: What were the conditions that made Fawry’s listing possible, what key lessons can be learned, and how can this success be scaled?

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Insights from Iyinoluwa Aboyeji highlight critical points about the startup ecosystem in Africa: *Pre-seed and seed investors such as Future Africa are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the funding boom at later stages (Series A-D). *The need for a world-class accelerator program in Africa, such as Accelerate Africa. *The importance of investors/founders who understand context, especially in times of crises, such as the recent funding contraction #FutureAfrica #AccelarateAfrica #VentureCapital

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An incredible opportunity has launched for climate action ventures in Africa with Kinjani. Well done Caitlin Wale and the Kinjani team for developing a platform that will support climate action and young talented entrepreneurs in Africa. If you're a scientist, engineer or founder with big ideas for tackling climate change, you should definitely take a look at Kinjani's programmes.    Kinjani aims to attract talent that addresses climate-related pain points within 6 key industries: • Urbanisation - infrastructure & resilience • Materials - low carbon manufacturing & construction • Oceans - Ships, Sinks and Aquaculture • Food - productivity, restoration & futureproofing • Water - waste, pollution, scarcity and resilience • Restorative mining - circular models & biodiversity All these industries have historically been underfunded within the climatetech space, and yet continue to contribute heavily to several climate concerns around carbon removal, circularity, and climate resilience.    To build scalable, science-first ventures in key industries, this new Kinjani program brings together entrepreneurs with technical expertise or commercial/operational experience within Sub-Saharan Africa. Visit Kinjani's website for more information; applications are open now for young African entrepreneurs!

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Great to speak on the UKTN podcast speaking on our work at Openseed VC backing experienced operators, and talking about the incredible potential of European and African ecosystem. There is a growing pipeline of experienced operators starting their technology companies across both regions -- this is the focus for Openseed VC On the podcast, we talk about AI, emerging technology trends, the importance of talent, liquidity, impact of policy on the entrepreneurship ecosystem and many more! I also speak about the incredible growth opportunity that is the #African continent - tough macro climate yes -- but we believe difficulty is the flip side of opportunity to create value. There will be an incredible crop of experienced operators who choose to solve difficult, impactful and commercially viable problems. At Openseed VC we want to be your launch partner if this sounds like you! Got questions, we've got answers on www.openseed.vc/faq A huge thanks to the UKTN team for having me! #OpenseedVC #UKTN #Europe #Africa https://lnkd.in/eAH9ZbNM

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking at and moderating a session at Moonshot by TechCabal. One of the standout moments was reconnecting with Malobi Ogbechie. Malobi shared an inspiring story about how a piece of advice I gave him two years ago during one of our Founders meetups reshaped his entrepreneurial journey. Back then, he was leveraging his extensive experience in freight forwarding and exploring ways to support micro-exporters. I encouraged him to validate his business offline before going digital. Today, Malobi’s venture, Kadankadan—a Port Harcourt-based logistics-tech company that’s driving export accessibility—is thriving, with a growing client base across Port Harcourt and Lagos. And the best part? They’re gearing up to launch version 1 of their tech solution! Huge congratulations to Malobi and the entire Kadankadan team—your success story truly brightened my day. I believe that Africa's Startup ecosystem will benefit from experienced professionals with extensive knowledge in different sectors getting involved. In other exciting news, I’m thrilled to announce that we have just 3 slots left for Cohort 2 of Scale with Uche Aniche (SwUA 2.0)! 🚀 SwUA is a dynamic 12-week program modelled after TD's Mentor Pitch starting in early November and running through January 2025. It’s designed to help seasoned professionals with deep domain expertise transform their ideas into high-growth ventures while connecting them with the right resources and investor networks. If you’re ready to take your vision to the next level, don’t miss this opportunity. Let’s build the next big thing—together! Please note that it's a paid program - suitable for working professionals who desire to learn how to build a Startup. Leave a comment below if interested and I will share next steps.

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Summary: Janngo Capital, an African venture capital firm, has closed its second fund at €73 million, 20% more than its initial target. The firm focuses on investing in diverse and female-led startups in sectors beyond fintech. Key takeaways: Janngo Capital's second fund exceeded its initial target, demonstrating confidence from investors in the potential of African startups. The firm has a strong focus on gender equality, with over half of its portfolio made up of startups founded or led by women. Janngo Capital has had success with exits and investments in diverse sectors, showing that a high-impact thesis can deliver in the African startup ecosystem. Counter arguments: Some may argue that the percentage of investments in female-led startups may be seen as tokenism rather than genuine support for diversity. Janngo Capital's focus on sectors beyond fintech may be seen as a riskier investment strategy, which could lead to lower returns. #venturecapital #vc #venture https://lnkd.in/gvxaR6Pc

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Twiva, Kenyan Growth Stage Startup - among the Top 20 chosen to pitch to a sea of Venture Capitalists, at Africa's coveted Angel Fair Africa 2024. This year's participants scale from the South to East and West of Africa. Twiva is Kenya's leading AI-driven #socialcommerce platform, powered by #influencers and #resellers to bring brands closer to consumers across the continent. Established to revolutionize retail, Twiva connects businesses to a vast network of over 13,500 influencers and 2,500 merchants, generating genuine engagement and driving sales through trusted recommendations. In just five years, Twiva has gained the trust of hundreds of thousands of unique monthly visitors, positioning itself as a fast-growing solution that enhances #marketaccess, #jobcreation, and #salesconversion for businesses in industries ranging from fashion and electronics to home and beauty. With a proven record of #awardwinningpartnerships and an expanding presence in the region, Twiva is not just driving #commercialgrowth but is building a more #inclusive, #digitalretailecosystem for Africa's future To greater scale, and indelible reach. #BuildingTheAfricaWeWant

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On 26th November, 2024, I had the privilege of teaching a masterclass on debt and equity financing to the startup founders in the Agrisolar Investment Readiness Bootcamp organized by The Innovation Village and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The purpose of this bootcamp is to support AgriTech startups working at the intersection of solar technology and agriculture. The bootcamp is designed to help these startups to prepare for investment opportunities. In my session, I helped the founders to understand the basics of both equity and debt financing, and what to consider before deciding what kind of financing would be the best for their business/startup. My mission is to democratize knowledge of startup financing in Africa, and this session was a small step in that direction. You can access my presentations here. https://lnkd.in/g7qFH84V (You can request to share, and I will approve). *SideNote* In this slide, I was using a January 2024 blog post from Africa:The Big Deal titled 2023: The Year of Debt to showcase how debt grew by 47% to $1.1bn in 2023 YoY, whereas equity financing declined by -57% YoY to $1.7bn.

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So we started Cohort 3 of the Immerse Africa VC Fellowship by Immerse Africa VC Academy last weekend. It was a diverse class with people from different backgrounds. This cohort has a fine blend of startup CFOs who want to know how to navigate the VC landscape for the benefit of their company and VC Professionals who just want to get better at their job. As always, we started this cohort with the VC Business Model. Understanding how VCs think about deals and then we built our VC Fund Return Model and the Management Company Model. As always, we saw that VCs are looking for outsized returns. 3x returns are good, but what you're looking for is 30x or 50x. So the challenge for our VC professionals is that how do they identify the 30x return startups and more importantly founders or founding teams? The question for our startup CFOs - Is your startup the 30x return startup? On Sunday, we went in full time on the the language of finance - Accounting. This is as we prepare to start building our startup financial models from next weekend. Excited about this cohort... already. If you still want to join this cohort, this might be your time before the next class.

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Facing the Unknown: The Entrepreneur's Edge "Ukubalekela into ongayazi, noma ongayiqondi. Kuwukubalekela ithuba lokuyiqonda futhi uyazi kangcono kunabanye." – Andile Mbhele, 08 Oct 2024 As #entrepreneurs, the unknown is not something to fear—it’s the arena where we *learn* faster and *outgrow* the competition. If we shy away from uncertainty, we’re not just missing a challenge, but also an #opportunity to #master the skills that others hesitate to confront. The more we #embrace what we don’t know, the more we sharpen our edge. Like the greats, always encourage: "Outlearn your competitors, so you can out-earn them." For me, this resonates deeply, because my journey as a #zulupreneur is about embracing the #inevitable challenges ahead. Every obstacle is a #chance to rise #higher, and there is no #turning #back. Microsoft Microsoft for Startups BhongoNations Mthokozisi Penwell Khumbane FNB South Africa SmartXchange Sekelo Shude Startupschool.koeln VC4A Equidam Microsoft Azure Just Vendors Enterprises (Pty) Ltd. Y Combinator Sekelo Shude #Leadership #Innovation #YC #StartupLife #GrowthMindset #Zulupreneurship #EntrepreneurJourney #OvercomingChallenges

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#network Startups I scout for. Just wanted to help some people out in the various investment thesis I look for 1) Black Founders (Pre-Seed to Series A) building in all sectors (USA) 2) Technology to reduce friction at Scale located in USA, MENA and Africa Focus Areas: B2B ans B2C Software (SaaS, Fintech, Marketplaces, HealthTech, eCommerce, EdTech, AI/ML Stage Pre-Seed (MVP In Market) 3)Sectors: WEB3, AI, QC, RPA Stage: Seed- Series C Also personally, I do a lot of sportstech and gaming Please feel reach out or tag someone in the comments #venturecapital #vc #investing #tech #innovation #startups #dealflow

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Daryle Serrant, Research Scientist at Kwaai reports on results of Mamba experiments. This is an important advance in AI that would enable #localAI. Learn more at https://www.kwaai.ai/ #kwaai #personalAI #mamba #AI

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I'm thrilled to highlight the incredible contributions of my good friend,Kola A. to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Kola, through his fund Ventures Platform Fund has been a pivotal figure in the evolution of the VC landscape in Nigeria, being at the forefront since the early days. Like me, Kola relocated from America to Africa around 14 years ago. Witnessing his journey and the impact he's made since then has been nothing short of inspiring. In 2010, (which was the same year that I founded Venture Garden Group) both of us took a leap of faith into what was then a nascent ecosystem, and the strides we've made since are a testament to what's possible with dedication and resilience. He started first by building companies from scratch, with his Emerging Platform company, like we did. I still believe that Africa entreprneurs need VCs with that type of experience. Before he moved on to setup the fund, Ventures Platform Fund . The way, we also moved on to setup Greenhouse Capital following the brutal journey of building Venture Garden Group - our Venture Studio/ Venture Holding company. From building companies from scratch and scaling operations in some of the world’s most challenging markets, to raising capital in fluctuating economic climates and supporting other founders…and then on to creating an institutional Fund, Kola’s journey deserves to be shared. This story must be told. So that other entrepreneurs, investors, corporates from all over the world, that want to do business in Africa- can learn from our successes, failures, and everything in between. Maybe it even evolves into various forms of documenting this experience: like a podcast, a book, or even a movie. Who knows? Congratulations, Kola! I’m so proud to see all that you have achieved and the paths you are paving for future entrepreneurs, emerging venture capitalists, and business leaders!

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Is it possible to do a PhD without a masters degree? Is a question that many of my Kenyan folks have been asking me whenever I tell my story of how I skipped masters and enrolled into a PhD program straight from undergrad. Although there are exceptions, the simple answer is yes, it's possible. In this episode of GN Inspire, I explain how that happened so you can also try, if you want to. https://lnkd.in/dHith2eY #highereducation #gradschool #phdlife #thephdjourney #gninspire

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The global AI revolution is here, and NEUROTECH AFRICA is stepping up with #Sarufi – a no-code platform designed to empower businesses, developers, and innovators to build multilingual intelligent #chatbots with ease. 💡 What is Sarufi? Sarufi is not just a tool – it’s a gateway to accessible #AI. By removing technical barriers, we’re enabling organizations across sectors to automate customer interactions, streamline workflows, and create scalable solutions in record time. 🌟 Sarufi is a Game-Changer: ✅ Scalable and Cost-Effective: Businesses can deploy chatbots tailored to their needs without heavy #IT infrastructure or expertise. ✅ Built for Emerging Markets: Sarufi is proudly developed in #Tanzania, addressing the unique challenges and opportunities in Africa's fast-growing digital economy. ✅ Market-Ready: With diverse applications in retail, financial services, healthcare, and education, #Sarufi is primed to scale across industries and borders. ✅ AI for All: No-code means faster adoption, lower costs, and a broader user base – making AI accessible for SMEs, corporations, and governments alike. 🎯 The Opportunity Africa’s digital transformation is accelerating, with an increasingly connected population and businesses hungry for automation. Sarufi is strategically positioned to lead the charge in AI adoption across the continent, opening avenues for: Enhanced customer engagement Operational efficiency Data-driven insights 🔗 Explore Sarufi and see the potential for yourself: www.sarufi.io #nocode #ai #generationconnect

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Chapter 14 and Conclusion Review; Zero To One by Peter Thiel The Founder's Paradox Being like everybody in almost every way is one of the greatest indicators that you shouldn't be a founder. In fact Myles Munroe of blessed memory always emphasizes us dwelling on those things that make us different. The more independent you are in thought, the more the chances of you bringing about something new. It is even something to consider that to be truly authentic and different, you have to lay a solid foundation of discipline. You have to first have what all of mankind can have before properly diverging. The conclusion just goes on to tell us how the 4 different categories (those indefinite and definite optimists and pessimists) view the future. Let me end with a few paragraphs from the chapter and conclusion. The lesson for business is that we need founders, If anything, we should be more tolerant of founders who seem strange or extreme; we need unusual individuals to lead companies beyond mere incrementalism, The lesson for founders is that individual prominence and adulation can never be enjoyed except on the condition that it may be exchanged for individual notoriety and demonization at any moment so be careful. Above all, don't overestimate your own power as an individual. Founders are important not because they are the only ones whose work has value, but rather because a great founder can bring out the best work from everybody at his company. That we need individual founders in all their peculiarity does not mean that we are called to worship Ayn Randian "prime movers" who claim to be independent of everybody around them. In this respect Rand was a merely half great writer: her villains were real, but her heroes were fake. There is no Galt's Gulch. There is no secession from society. To believe vourself invested with divine self sufficiency is not the mark of a strong individual, but of a person who has mistaken the crowd's worship or jeering for the truth. The single greatest danger for a founder is to become so certain of his own myth that he loses his mind. But an equally insidious danger for every business is to lose all sense of myth and mistake disenchantment for wisdom. But no matter how many trends can be traced, the future won't happen on its own. What the Singularity would look like matters less than the stark choice we face today between the two most likely scenarios nothing or something. It's up to us. We cannot take for granted that the future will be better, and that means we need to work to create it today. continued in the comments #SDG4 #LeadingSDG4 #BuddyBookclub #Bookreview #ZeroToOne #PeterThiel #SustainableDevelopment #QualityEducation #LifelongLearning

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