#22: African Corporate VCs & Softbank - Why African corporates are not investing in tech startups

02/08/21 • 89 min

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about African Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) using Softbank as a reference point. We'll talk about Softbank's early history, transition from operational to investment company, and finally dive into the current state and future potential of CVC in Africa. This episode was recorded on Feb 7, 2021

Companies discussed: Softbank, Naspers / Prosus, MTN, Nedbank, Safaricom, Orange, Stripe, Visa, MasterCard, Tencent & Alibaba

Business concepts discussed: Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), M&A strategy, Internal vs External innovation & developing market investment strategy

Conversation highlights:

(01:05) - Why we’re talking about Corporate Venture Capital
(03:50) - Why we picked Softbank as a reference point
(07:30) - Masayoshi Son background Softbank History
(16:14) - Softbank acquisitions, investments & the Vision Fund
(28:24) - Southern Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
(36:40) - West Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
(43:00) - East Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
(51:56) - North Africa CVCs - current potential candidates
(53:40) - Non-African CVCs investing in Africa
(59:30) - Bankole’s closing thoughts
(1:11:55) - Olumide’s closing thoughts
(1:23:38) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Billionaire's Build (Paul Graham): Wonderful article from PG about entrepreneur billionaires and how to get into YC.
Recommendation: ESI millionaire interview 220: Great article telling the story of a 57 yr old woman journey to become a millionaire. Very inspirational!
Recommendation: History of Japan video: Crazy 9 minute video. Fun!
Small win: 4hr dinner with friends by the ocean. :)
Other content: Techpoint Visa article & Packy McCormick's wonderful Tencent article (on Not Boring)
Open question: What African companies would you like to see invest more in startups? And why?
Special thanks: Ato Bentsi-Enchill

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Text Expander
Small win: Fifa Seasons Division 2 -> 1 promotion
Other content: MEST Article on MTN investments in African startup ecosystem
Other content: GSMA report on Emerging Markets Corporate Venture Capital
Open question: Are you optimistic about the CVC investment in African startup ecosystem, or do you think it’s never going to happen.

We’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Companies discussed: Softbank, Naspers / Prosus, MTN, Nedbank, Safaricom, Orange, Stripe, Visa, MasterCard, Tencent & Alibaba

Business concepts discussed: Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), M&A strategy, Internal vs External innovation & developing market investment strategy

Conversation highlights:

(01:05) - Why we’re talking about Corporate Venture Capital
(03:50) - Why we picked Softbank as a reference point
(07:30) - Masayoshi Son background Softbank History
(16:14) - Softbank acquisitions, investments & the Vision Fund
(28:24) - Southern Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
(36:40) - West Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
(43:00) - East Africa CVCs - current & potential candidates
(51:56) - North Africa CVCs - current potential candidates
(53:40) - Non-African CVCs investing in Africa
(59:30) - Bankole’s closing thoughts
(1:11:55) - Olumide’s closing thoughts
(1:23:38) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Billionaire's Build (Paul Graham): Wonderful article from PG about entrepreneur billionaires and how to get into YC.
Recommendation: ESI millionaire interview 220: Great article telling the story of a 57 yr old woman journey to become a millionaire. Very inspirational!
Recommendation: History of Japan video: Crazy 9 minute video. Fun!
Small win: 4hr dinner with friends by the ocean. :)
Other content: Techpoint Visa article & Packy McCormick's wonderful Tencent article (on Not Boring)
Open question: What African companies would you like to see invest more in startups? And why?
Special thanks: Ato Bentsi-Enchill

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Text Expander
Small win: Fifa Seasons Division 2 -> 1 promotion
Other content: MEST Article on MTN investments in African startup ecosystem
Other content: GSMA report on Emerging Markets Corporate Venture Capital
Open question: Are you optimistic about the CVC investment in African startup ecosystem, or do you think it’s never going to happen.

We’d love to hear from you. Please email [email protected] to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear.

Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Previous Episode

#21: uLesson - How the EdTech platform is bridging the educational gap across Nigeria & Anglophone Africa

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about uLesson - the African EdTech platform. We'll start with some context about education in Africa & Nigeria, talk about uLesson's early history, fundraising, product strategy & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Jan 24, 2021.

Companies discussed: uLesson, Byju’s, School Visual, WhiteHat Jr, Yuanfudao & Owl Ventures

Business concepts discussed: Education technology, monetization strategy, African expansion, product localization, new product development, growth/profitability trade-offs & equity fund raising

Conversation highlights:

(01:30) - Why we are talking about uLesson
(04:15) - Nigerian / African educational context
(22:08) - Sim Shagaya background, work experience
(24:20) - Entrepreneurial ventures: e-Motion, DealDey, Konga
(32:16) - uLesson founding and seed round
(40:02) - $7.5M Series A overview
(45:30) - Expansion to other African countries
(50:45) - uLesson product & pricing strategy
(1:02:45) - uLesson user growth and engagement
(1:03:26) - uLesson competition across Africa
(1:18:14) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:28:45) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:36:55) - Recommendations, small wins & open questions

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: The Chicken or the Exit (by Osarumen Osamuyi), Africa tech summit & How to make friends as an adult
Small win: Spent Birthday singing (Airbnb experience) with Broadway star (Stephen Carlile). Beyond Amazing!
Other content: Techpoint tweet summarizing Sim's exits & Sim's uLesson announcement
Other content: Blitzscaling: How not to go off the rails (David Sacks)
Open question: What are the biggest challenges uLesson could face in 1-3 years?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendation: Ask Your Developer & Gravity visualized - YouTube
Other content: Sequoia funded companies tweets
Small win: More walks, and been trying this new thing where I only play video games one day a week
Open question: Question for Sim - What did you know at the start of Konga, that by the end of it, you realized you were wrong about?

We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email [email protected] Find more episodes at Afrobility.com

Next Episode

undefined - #23: Stock trading services (African WealthTech Pt 1) - How retail investment platforms are racing to build the African Robinhood and Zerodha

#23: Stock trading services (African WealthTech Pt 1) - How retail investment platforms are racing to build the African Robinhood and Zerodha

Overview: Today we’re going to talk about WealthTech & the rise of retail investing platforms in Africa. We’ll start with some context of stock market trading, review investment platforms in India & China & then dive into Africa's personal investing landscape. This episode was recorded on Feb 21, 2021.

Companies discussed: RobinHood, Zerodha, Futu, Ant Financial / AliPay, Bamboo, Chaka, Trove, Abacus, ARM Pensions, eToro, AvaTrade, Thndr, EasyEquities, Wealth.ng, RiseVest, PiggyVest & Cowrywise

Business concepts discussed: Personal finance strategy, retail investment strategy & wealth management

Conversation highlights:

(00:40) - WealthTech & InvestTech context
(03:40) - Stock trading & Brokerages context
(15:40) - Indian investment platforms: Zerodha
(20:40) - Chinese investment platforms: Futu & AliPay
(28:52) - African retail investment context
(30:08) - Currency risks and devaluation in Africa
(42:26) - Retail investing stories
(50:00) - WealthTech in West Africa
(56:20) - WealthTech in East Africa
(1:00:15) - WealthTech in Southern & Northern Africa
(1:15:50) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and general outlook
(1:24:22) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and general outlook
(1:31:15) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:

Recommendations: How to do the things you keep avoiding: Excellent article about dealing with procrastination & Building for the Enterprise (Aaron Levie): Video about building B2B products. Insightful & funny
Small wins: Spent time with friend’s dog & Feedly pro+: Excellent
Other content: India Investments sub-reddit, Zerodha story: Wonderful story, inspirational and heartfelt, Stock market participation in Zimbabwe paper & PiggyVest vs CowyRise vs RiseVest comparison video
Open question: How should retail investing apps adapt their business models in the next 1-3 years?

Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: