The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) hosted its fifth Venture Capital (VC) Summit yesterday in Lagos, a key event within its 21st Annual AVCA Conference, running through 2 May. The summit brought together venture capitalists, startup founders, corporate investors, and accelerators to examine the trends shaping Africa’s early-stage investment landscape.
Opening the summit, AVCA CEO Abi Mustapha-Maduakor underscored Nigeria’s pivotal role in driving the continent’s entrepreneurial progress: “Hosting the Summit in Nigeria is significant because this country has long been at the heart of Africa's entrepreneurial evolution. Despite economic headwinds, we've witnessed innovation and resilience in the early-stage ecosystem. It is no coincidence that in 2024, Nigeria produced one of the continent's newest unicorns.”
A keynote fireside chat between Mustapha-Maduakor and Tope Awotona, Founder and CEO of US$3 billion tech company Calendly, set the tone for the day. Reflecting on his company’s journey, Awotona said: “I knew scheduling wasn't just a productivity tax—it was a tax on important business outcomes like revenue. We didn't invent online scheduling but made it accessible to more people through three key innovations: our freemium pricing model, our viral distribution method, and our data-driven product improvements.”
The discussion highlighted the role of experimentation and data in scaling globally competitive products. “When scheduling went virtual, more users meant more data could help to improve the product and help to become the best on the market,” Awotona added.
A subsequent panel, Unlocking Scale: The Growth-Stage Challenge, featured Leo Batalov of DLA Piper and Brian Waswani Odhiambo of Novastar Ventures. The speakers addressed the pressing need for better funding pathways as startups move from seed to scale, and emphasized the importance of building strong domestic investor networks.
Dr. Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner at TLcom Capital, captured the challenge succinctly: “We need to help founders understand that at the growth stage, they’re competing for global capital, not just local. Founders must recognise the competition and make their businesses appealing to international investors…This makes the African market more scalable, bankable, and investable.”
The conversation around value creation continued in the Titans of Industry: Bold Moves session, where Tosin Eniolorunda, Group CEO of Moniepoint, stressed the importance of financial discipline and strategic growth. “If you have an organisation that is growing, investors will be interested; so we focused early on establishing good fundamentals—topline growth, profitability, EBITDA margins, return on equity. The more important goal is building a valuable company with healthy bottom lines. This opens up multiple opportunities, whether through Nigeria's evolving stock exchange or large buyouts from sovereign wealth funds,” he said.
Additional panels brought together institutional investors from corporate, commercial, and developmental finance sectors, who shared their views on navigating a competitive fundraising environment and the evolving priorities for Limited Partners (LPs).
A standout session, Venture Debt – Africa’s Missing Piece?, explored the role of debt financing in extending runway without equity dilution. Speakers included Rosanne Whalley of AHL Ventures Partners, Roeland Donckers of iungo capital, and moderator Tage Kene-Okafor of TechCrunch.
According to AVCA’s latest data, venture debt demonstrated notable resilience in 2024, with 60 deals totaling US$1.0 billion—a 3% year-on-year increase. Though accounting for just 12% of deal volume, venture debt represented 37% of total capital deployed, with a median deal size of US$7.5 million, nearly three times that of equity deals.
The panel highlighted both the opportunity and the knowledge gap. Biola Alabi, Venture Partner at Delta40, emphasized: “There is a critical gap in financial literacy around debt financing in our ecosystem. Many founders and even some GPs don't fully understand what debt investors require in terms of traction and stability. We need to help restructure existing debt and educate founders on how venture debt can complement equity to extend runway and avoid dilution, particularly for businesses with predictable revenue streams.”
As Africa’s VC environment matures, AVCA’s summit served as a platform to align capital with ambition—underscoring the continent’s resilience, potential for scale, and increasing appeal to global investors.
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