Why does our conference theme feel like a dare?
What if Africa stopped taking its cues from Silicon Valley and started writing its own playbook—KPIs, business models, and all? In this issue, I’m daring us to build African by Design: solutions rooted in our realities, priced in our currencies, and powered by the grit we know best.
- Founder's Notes
- Catalyze Throwback
- Community Session Announcement
- We have a new podcast episode!
- Members Only Events
- Ecosystem Updates
- International events relevant to African Founders
📮 Founder's Notes
I mean, think about it. We’re basically saying we want African VCs to develop local-specific metrics—KPIs that truly reflect the environments founders build in—and choose startups based on those, instead of using Y Combinator as a proxy for what’s investable in Africa. What?! Is that even possible?
You’re telling me founders will actually build for their local context—not just what might snag foreign funding? What! Get out of here.
I know, I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek. Just a little...
But seriously, what do we have to lose? Aid is drying up. There’s growing aversion to funding African solutions. So why not focus on building the right business models for the people we claim to serve?
You can’t build for Kenyan users if they have to pay in dollars. And you can’t build a medicine that requires constant refrigeration for locations with limited electricity. We have to build for our realities.
There’s often this fear that if you build for Africa instead of the global market, you’re going in the wrong direction. I want us to challenge that. How can we collaborate and design modular solutions that first and foremost serve African communities?
Let’s dare to build African by design—because that’s not just a theme, it’s a necessary shift.
Ukeme
Community
Updates from The Beta Collective Community by Priscilla
Catalyze 2025 Is Loading… But First, a Look Back 🚀
As we count down to Catalyze 2025 this fall in Houston, we’re taking a moment to celebrate where we’ve been and how far we’ve come.
Below are some highlights from our past Catalyze event. Moments filled with connection, bold conversations, and the energy of a growing community driven by purpose and possibility. From panel discussions and breakout sessions to laughter-filled networking and visionary storytelling, this is the spirit we’re bringing with us into 2025.
What’s Next: Catalyze 2025 | African by Design
This year’s theme is African by Design — a call to center African ideas, experiences, and solutions as the foundation for sustainable impact.
We’re bringing together builders, thinkers, and doers from across the continent and diaspora to amplify innovations rooted in local context and powered by community.
📍 Houston
📅 Fall 2025
🎟️ Registration opens soon!
Be Part of the Movement
If you’ve attended before, you already know Catalyze isn’t just an event, it’s a space where African-led innovation comes alive. And if this will be your first time, we can’t wait to welcome you.
#AfricanByDesign: Investing in Africa’s Energy and Climate Future
We’re back with another insightful edition of our community session and this time, we’re diving into one of the most urgent and exciting spaces: Africa’s energy and climate future.
Join us for a powerful conversation with a climate-focused VC investor and an inspiring African founder, both driving real change through local innovation. Together, they’ll explore how the "African By Design" mindset is reshaping climate solutions, investment strategies, and what it means to build for and with the continent.
📅 Event Details
Theme: Investing in Africa’s Energy and Climate Future
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2025
Time: 5:30–6:30 PM WAT | 11:30 AM–12:30 PM CT
Location: Google Meet
What to Expect
🌱 A founder story grounded in local realities
💰 Real investor insights into funding climate innovations
🔥 Practical lessons for African entrepreneurs
🤝 Live Q&A and networking with our growing community
Come connect, learn, and grow with a vibrant network of changemakers building Africa’s future.
🎙️ Beta Mode Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Jehiel Oliver
We’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on Jehiel Oliver, Founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, our latest podcast guest! Jehiel’s journey is a powerful example of how strategic innovation can drive massive impact in critical sectors.
His Story:
Jehiel Oliver's entrepreneurial path began unconventionally. With a background in investment banking and private equity, he pivoted to focus on commercial avenues for development in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. His "eureka moment" arrived while working on a farm mechanization project in the Philippines. Recognizing the immense, untapped potential for similar solutions in Africa, especially in Nigeria, he founded Hello Tractor. His vision was clear: to address the critical lack of mechanization for smallholder farmers across the continent, driven by a passion for creating meaningful and impactful work.
Current Projects:
As CEO of Hello Tractor, Jehiel is leading the charge in revolutionizing African agriculture. Hello Tractor connects smallholder farmers to tractor owners through a shared economy platform, significantly boosting productivity and economic growth. The company’s core offerings include:
- Fleet Management Solution (SaaS): An IoT-GPS enabled platform that allows tractor owners to remotely monitor equipment usage, minimize fraud, track fuel consumption, and manage maintenance needs. This technology gives owners the confidence to deploy their assets to remote locations.
- Marketplace Tools: Applications that empower community-based agents to organize farmers for services, aggregating demand to ensure efficient and profitable equipment deployment. This includes optimizing routes and scheduling services for maximum asset utilization.
- Pay-As-You-Go Tractor Financing: A groundbreaking initiative that allows pre-qualified booking agents to become tractor owners. Hello Tractor partners with commercial banks and impact investors to provide affordable financing, unlocking significant earning potential for these entrepreneurs.
- After-Sales Support: Establishing community hubs with spare parts and trained technicians to address a historical challenge in African agricultural mechanization: the lack of proper maintenance and parts availability.
Lessons Learned:
- Profit Pools are Diverse in Emerging Markets: Jehiel emphasizes that in markets with lower income levels, entrepreneurs should look for multiple, smaller profit pools across the supply chain. By adding value at various points, even small margins can aggregate into a profitable business at scale, while remaining affordable for customers.
- Empowerment Fuels Growth: Hello Tractor's success highlights the transformative power of investing in capacity building and financial literacy for all stakeholders, from farmers learning best practices to booking agents becoming asset-owning entrepreneurs. Providing access to credit and training unlocks ambition and drives significant economic uplift.
- Responsible Scaling is Key: While recognizing the vast addressable market, Hello Tractor prioritizes responsible growth, carefully selecting countries for its financing product based on potential impact and ensuring proper support infrastructure is in place.
Jehiel's insights offer a compelling look into building a successful, impactful business in Africa. What aspects of Hello Tractor's model do you find most innovative?
Members Only Event 🔐
Pitch Tuesdays
Every Tuesday, members of our community get the spotlight to pitch their startups, side projects, or bold ideas. It’s a safe, supportive space to practice your pitch, get feedback, and connect with potential collaborators or mentors. Whether you’re refining your concept or ready to launch, this is your time to shine.
Members only. 🎤
Weekly WhatsApp Discussions
Join our WhatsApp group every week for a focused, real-time conversation around the topic of discussion. It’s a chance to share your take, ask questions, and learn from the lived experiences of others in the community.
Don’t miss out on our members-only event — it’s your chance to connect, pitch, and grow with a community that truly gets it.
Ecosystem
News, Events, and Updates by Jesse
News
African Tech Funding Surges 50% in Q2
African tech startup funding rebounded strongly in Q2 of 2025, rising 50% quarter‑on‑quarter, raising optimism that the global funding winter may be thawing.
Tom Jackson
Funding and Resources
Call for Entries — Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025
Emerging African innovators—whether individuals or teams up to four—are invited to enter the Africa Deep Tech Challenge 2025, open to participants aged 18+ from over 50 African countries
Deadline: July 31, 2025
Africa Deep Tech Foundation
Events
Africa–Singapore Business Forum 2025
August 26–28, Singapore
A premier platform bringing together over 700 business and government leaders to explore trade, investment, and innovation opportunities between Africa and Asia. This year’s theme, “Bridging Capabilities, Charting Sustainable Growth,” will spotlight partnerships in fintech, energy, logistics, and urban development. For: C-suite executives, investors, policymakers & ecosystem connectors.
BFSI Week 2025 – Powering Africa’s Financial Transformation
CIO Africa presents BFSI Week, a two-day, three-event conference that brings together Africa’s top minds in Banking, SACCOs, and Insurance to explore how technology, digital transformation, and innovation are reshaping the future of finance.
August 6–7, 2025
Time: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (EAT)
Location: Hyatt Regency, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya
ISACA South Africa Annual Conference 2025
The ISACA South Africa Annual Conference 2025, taking place from August 18–22 in Pretoria, will feature expert-led workshops, a main conference on cybersecurity and AI governance, and an Arabian Nights-themed awards gala, with up to 18 CPE credits available.
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