\n But before Oui Capital, the duo had tested a partnership before with WiFi Monkey, an internet startup that let neighbours share Wi-Fi and split payments. It was clever, promising, but short-lived. A cease-and-desist from a telecom giant ended that experiment.\n <\/p>\n
\n In 2019, Oui Capital was born out of a desire to give African founders opportunities that weren\u2019t widely available.\n <\/p>\n
\n Launching Oui Capital meant starting from scratch. Olu recalls that quitting was never a consideration. \u201cIf we raised only $1 million, it would have been successful,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if it gave us only $10,000 a year to live on, we would have done it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The art of early-stage gamble<\/p>\n
\n By focusing not on the size of the fund but on the value of the investments, Oui Capital built credibility and momentum. Today, the firm manages $20 million across 24 companies in nine African countries, having backed founders in fintech, logistics, edtech, and mobility.\n <\/p>\n
\n Investing at the earliest stage is often a gamble, Olu admits. You rarely have evidence, traction, or certainty. For him, the process is less about playing God and more about carefully triangulating proxies for what the future could be.\n <\/p>\n
\n But there are key questions to consider. First, the market. Does a real opportunity exist, and is there a problem worth solving? Next is the solution. Does the founder\u2019s approach make sense or at least come close to the best path forward? And finally, the team itself. \u201cYou can have a great market and a clever solution, but if the people building it aren\u2019t equipped to execute it, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Oyinsan is honest about the limits of judgment. Investors are wrong most of the time, he admits, but the key is being wrong less often. \u201cOur opinion is what counts,\u201d he says. \u201cIf someone else has a different view, they can invest their money. But for us, we want to understand the problem, size the market, evaluate the solution, and make sure the team is capable of execution. That\u2019s our framework.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Pitch perfect<\/p>\n
\n Speaking about what founders should keep in mind when raising funds, Oyinsan highlights a few key points. One often overlooked skill is listening. One of the most common mistakes he sees is founders who talk too much and pitch as if the investor is a passive audience.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cFounders need to listen intently. Investors reveal their biases in conversation. If you can hear them, you can address them. That listening is a skill itself,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Another mistake is underestimating the importance of knowing the competition. \u201cIf you sound uninformed about others in the space, it undermines everything else you present. Investors will ask, \u2018If you don\u2019t know this, what else don\u2019t you know?”\n <\/p>\n
African tech exits<\/p>\n
\n Exits in Africa\u2019s tech scene remain few and far between. Over the past decade, only about 20 major deals have crossed the $50 million mark, according to Africa: The Big Deal.\n <\/p>\n
\n The combined disclosed value of these exits sits at roughly $5 billion, with most transactions ranging between $50 million and $150 million. A handful of high-profile exceptions, like Paystack, DPO, and InstaDeep, stand out as rare but celebrated successes.\n <\/p>\n
\n Unlike more mature markets, where startups can tap into robust M&A and IPO opportunities, Africa\u2019s tech ecosystem is still developing. Many companies are simply not in a position to exit, making every successful deal notable.\n <\/p>\n
\n For Oyinsan, Moniepoint\u2019s journey from early investment to unicorn status offered lessons in patience and conviction. Reflecting on the fund\u2019s approach, he stresses that not fearing mistakes is as critical as trusting your instincts.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe value generated in venture capital is often built in loneliness. Only 20% of fund managers generate 80% of all returns. That tells you that the right decisions require conviction, even when it feels isolated,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s a philosophy that extends beyond spreadsheets and projections. \u201cYou must really know yourself as an investor,\u201d he added. \u201cLoneliness of conviction is part of the job. Supporting a good company to become great is just as critical as making the investment decision itself. Especially during the early stages, the support you provide can change a company\u2019s trajectory entirely.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n For Olu, the challenges of building exits in Africa are structural. “The continent needs more profitable, sustainable companies and stable monetary environments to attract global capital,” he said. But even within these constraints, he sees potential.\n <\/p>\n
\n Through it all, Oyinsan stresses that opportunity is everywhere, but only the brave act. Only those willing to commit, to back founders before the world notices, and to say yes when the usual answer is no will shape the next decade of African entrepreneurship.\n <\/p>\n
Opportunities that got away<\/p>\n
\n Despite the wins, there are always companies that slip through the cracks. When asked about missed opportunities, Olu acknowledges a few, though rarely with regret.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cOne that comes to mind is Gokada,\u201d he said. \u201cWe thought we\u2019d missed a category-defining opportunity, but regulatory hurdles made it impossible at the time. For now, our regret book is empty. None of the companies we passed on have gone on to significantly exceed expectations, yet. Timing, as always, matters.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Just as Oyinsan looks out for opportunities and timing, he is equally deliberate when it comes to investors. While most of Oui Capital\u2019s funding has historically come from global sources, local participation has grown significantly in recent years.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe look for investors who understand venture capital as an asset class,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about knowing startups exist, it\u2019s about understanding timelines, risk, and illiquidity.”\n <\/p>\n
\n Local investors bring boots-on-the-ground insight, while global capital broadens horizons and introduces international best practices. “Both are essential for a thriving ecosystem, and a balanced mix is ideal,\u201d according to him.\n <\/p>\n
Mentorship<\/p>\n
\n Mentorship is at the heart of Oui Capital\u2019s investment approach. Each opportunity is assessed first for the market potential, then for the promise of the solution, and finally for the team\u2019s ability to execute.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cMentorship is key, but it must never become overbearing. Founders need guidance, not control. In some cases, the team we invest in has more experience than we do, but our role is to be available when they need support,\u201d Oyinsan stressed.\n <\/p>\n
\n This advisory-focused approach, he explained, shaped the second fund, aptly named the Mentors Fund, reflecting a deliberate strategy to combine capital with guidance and support.\n <\/p>\n
\n Over the next five to ten years, the fund aims to become the early-stage investor of choice across Africa, supporting multiple funds across industries, geographies, and verticals.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re not a late-stage player. Our goal is to be the first call for founders starting out in the early and mid-early stages of their entrepreneurial journey. We want to be there at the point where conviction meets opportunity, helping turn potential into reality,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2024, Moniepoint crossed a threshold that few African startups ever reach. It became a unicorn. A $110…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[84,4203,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-313439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}