Wale Ayeni to head Helios Digital Ventures
Helios Investment Partners announced that it has partnered with Wale Ayeni to head its venture capital strategy and launch Helios Digital Ventures.
Ayeni was until recently at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where he was head of venture capital investments across Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. During his five years at the organisation, he helped to build its venture capital investment practice in Africa and co-headed disruptive technologies and VC investments for emerging and frontier markets globally.
Prior to joining the IFC, Ayeni led venture capital investments in Silicon Valley for Orange, the French telecoms company. He started his career as a microprocessor design engineer with Intel Corp. and later Qualcomm, before moving to JP Morgan’s technology investment banking group in San Francisco.
An explosion in innovation is underway in Africa, driven by a youthful and urbanising demographic and the availability of cheaper and better technological tools. African tech entrepreneurs are creating value by leveraging technology to address daily needs, creating economic value, and delivering significant positive social impact. This digital transformation is poised to become a principal driver of economic growth on the continent.
Helios Digital Ventures will support founders at the early-growth stage to build long-lasting businesses using technology to rethink and deliver impact to the mass-market, focusing on large addressable market segments including education, food security, financial services, healthcare, and sustainability.
Tope Lawani, co-founder and managing partner of Helios said, “We are extremely excited to have Wale join us to drive our venture capital effort. He brings many years of successful global experience in the venture asset class, and a deep understanding of the African markets and tech ecosystems. Helios Digital Ventures will key off the same core themes of demographics and urbanisation; and technology and innovation that underpin our private equity investment strategy. We are excited about the synergies inherent in being able to identify and invest in the highest potential Africa start-ups with venture capital and continuing to support them with private equity as they mature.”
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