Backing Bold Entrepreneurs for Good: 10 Years of Novastar Ventures, featuring Moniepoint

In this interview, Brian Waswani Odhiambo , Partner at Novastar Ventures and Ross Strike , Head of M&A and Investor Relations at Moniepoint Group discuss the importance of local knowledge, trust and empathy in successful investor-founder relationships, as well as the significant opportunities in Africa's venture capital landscape.

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Q: Novastar was founded to fuel an entrepreneurial revolution in Africa. Looking back over the past 10 years, what inspired this vision of "transforming markets and sectors", and what are your reflections on the investment landscape back then compared to today?

Brian:

It's very intentional that we say 'transforming' and refer to an entrepreneurial revolution rather than an evolution. That's because we believe disruption cannot be linear – it must be exponential. The companies we invest in differ from those backed by traditional forms of investment like private equity or project finance, which often focus on steady growth and consistent cash flows. Venture capital, by contrast, aims to shoot the lights out. When we started, Novastar's first fund was US$80 million. Today, we're managing around US$250 million. There are now many more funds investing in the continent, and several DFIs have established dedicated venture teams focused on Africa. The number of investors coming in has grown significantly.

Q: How do you identify entrepreneurs who understand the complexity and nuances of building and scaling in Africa?

Brian:

For Africa, what's particularly important is having lived or worked here. At one point, we specifically looked for founding teams where at least one co-founder had boots on the ground. This remains a preference for us. We want teams who are in-country, in-market, and living the African experience – those who truly understand the problem they're solving. This is critical because the execution risk we face is not with the technology – the rechnology can be solved. The challenge is execution – moving goods or services from A to B, from Lagos to northern Nigeria, in a financially viable and timely manner. You can't put that in a spreadsheet; you need to see what it takes.

Q: You were a believer in Moniepoint even before you joined the team. What was it about Moniepoint that compelled you to make the move from investor to operator?

Ross:

When I saw the kind of traction that Moniepoint had in a Novastar quarterly report back in maybe 2022, I immediately knew it was something special and wanted to look further. I picked up the phone to Brian, chatted about it, and we were lucky enough to invest early in that Series A round a few years ago at BII. I was already impressed with the numbers and impressed with the team. I think fintech is a terrific market where it's very scalable in a capital-light manner. It's one business model where I had a lot of conviction in that ability to scale, and I think that's played out over time. But fundamentally at the early stage – and I think Brian and the Novastar team have been great in this – it largely comes down to the team.

Q: What's on the horizon for Moniepoint from this point onwards?

Ross:

The big new thing is the focus on international expansion. The next few years will be very focused on building our FX solution to help businesses conduct cross-border payments. I think there's a huge opportunity there. And then new countries – we're looking at a bunch of different places. How we go about that will be super exciting, hopefully replicating our success in new markets. I would hope in five years, we'll truly be able to say we executed successfully on being Africa's leading digital business bank, and all of the good things around exit and IPO will follow naturally from that, if we execute well.

Listen to the full discussion:

• AVCA website
• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Connect with our guests:

Brian Waswani Odhiambo

Ross Strike

Find out more about Novastar Ventures and Moniepoint