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Venture The World

Interviews with the people, companies & trends shaping early-stage venture & startup ecosystems around the world


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  • 7. E7: Barbara Iyayi - Queen & Pioneer Member Of Africa’s First SPAC Now Leads Unicorn Growth Capital

    26:11
    Today’s guest on Venture The World, episode 7 is really an understated legend in the making, Barbara Iyayi. She started her career as an investment banker at JP Morgan in NYC to being founding member of Atlas Mara, a London Stock Exchange listed Special Purpose Acquisition Company structuring a landmark portfolio of banking companies across Africa to leading growth at one of Canada’s few unicorns at Element to launching Unicorn Growth Capital.Barbara shares the vision she's been drawn to in her career. The ones founders must have before she invests and how she's building on her own vision in the FinTech focus fund Unicorn Growth Capital. If you've ever wanted to learn about specs or how to transition from investment banking to venture building, or to understand Africa's market for growth capital this episode is for you. 

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  • 6. E6: Iyin Aboyeji - From Building Y-Combinator's Most Valuable African Startup to Pioneering "Rolling" VC Funds In Africa

    33:09
    On this 6th Episode of Venture The World we have Iyin Aboyeji or as some people call him "E". He's one of the top founders throughout Africa, having co-founded two companies, Flutterwave & Andela now valued over $100M a piece! We begin our conversation in the halls of University of Waterloo, where Iyin started and he details how he identifies co-founders, pitches top Silicon Valley investors, and is now building the next big thing with Future Africa Fund, investing in Africa, it's game, changing companies building the better future for the world. If you are looking for a breakdown of what a "Rolling" Fund is or want to learn the nuts and bolts of raising capital or tap into the business lessons Iyin has to offer - you are in luck because this episode was made for you.
  • 5. E5: Amadou Daffe - Champion of African Talent Across the Continent From Ethiopia to Dakar

    25:18
    On this week's episode of Venture The World's Africa season we are excited to welcome Amadou Daffe founder of Gebeya, he’s one of the few African entrepreneurs that can say they’ve exited a company to themselves and is dedicated to talent development across the continent. He manages a team of over 80 across two offices that span the continent in Ethiopia and Senegal, after raising a $3M seed round. The Venture the World crew also thanks Mobalaji Adeoye of Consonance Investment Managers for submitting a question for the interview.
  • 4. E4: Eric Osiakwan - Goes From Connecting Africa To The Backbone of the Internet to Investing In The Founders Building On Top of It

    24:23
    Episode 4 explores the world of Venture Investing & Building Africa's Technology Backbone with @EricOsiakwan, Partner at Chanzo Capital and his journey to building the African venture capital firm. Chronicling his early days as a networking engineer & a true infrastructure technologist which was critical in bringing much of Africa online by bring down the cost of data, building the connections between national internet service providers (ISPs) & also the sub sea cables on both sides of the African continent. And wading deep into his pan-African business development and investing portfolio.
  • 3. E3: Cherae Robinson - Pioneer of the Black Travel Movement Breaks Down Brand & Community Building

    43:32
    In episode 3, our guest is the dynamic polymath founder of Tastemakers Africa, Cherae Robinson. She has raised over $1M to bring modern African tourism to the world, one of the central figures behind the massive black travel movement and most recently, in response to Covid-19, she’s organized an online conference series called #theThread with over 1,400 participants to continue building the Tastemakers Africa community and experience marketplace.
  • 2. E2: Chika Nwobi - King of African Digital Distribution on IPOs, Angel Investing & the Future of Distributed Work

    28:47
    In episode 2 of the VTW Africa season, we have @ChikaNwobi as our guest. He is the CEO of Decagon, a distributed work software development & training firm with the mission of propelling Nigeria to become a top 10 technology service exporter in the next 10 years. His ambitions often prove out, as he’s transformed Africa’s tech landscape over the past 20 years, with 3 exits in an IPO on Nigeria’s stock exchange with MTech Communications PLC, angel investments in Africa's largest classified portals Jobberman Nigeria & Cheki Nigeria.
  • 2. E1: Rebecca Enonchong - Scaling Business, Ecosystems and Angel Investing Across Africa

    37:13
    In our first episode for the VTW Africa season, we have Rebecca Enonchong who describes how she expanded AppsTech to 27 countries over only 2 ½ years and 8 figure USD revenue, building AfriLabs from 10 hubs to over 200 supporting over 1 Million Entrepreneurs across #Africa to launching the ABAN's Catalyst angel matching fund.She is the CEO of AppsTech, a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions. Many of our followers may know her Twitter handle @AfricaTechie, where she has proved herself to be fearless in discussing her political and social impact views. In addition to this, Enonchong has received many awards, such as “Global Leader for Tomorrow” from the World Economic Forum of Davos, Switzerland, “Top Female Tech Founder” from Forbes, and “One of the Most Influential Africans” in 2014, 2016 and 2017 from NewAfrican Magazine.