While Silicon Valley investors pop champagne over exits that break the internet, African players like Oui Capital show that success doesn’t need flashy headlines but conviction and local insight. Their story proves that sometimes the right investments, made with an in-depth understanding of local dynamics, can yield outsized returns.
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Venture Capital
What kind of exit should make a headline? Oui Capital’s 53x win on Moniepoint
What kind of exit should make a headline? 50x, 100x or 2,000x? Don’t rack your brain too much because my editor swears you should never ask the reader too many questions.
Since we’re breaking all my editor’s rules, I’ll hit you with numbers. Consider this: Naspers made a $32 million investment in Tencent in 2001 that returned something like $100 billion. If your math is wonky, that’s a 3,200x return. Facebook’s earliest backers (hello, Peter Thiel) made about 2,000x on their investments. Now, go ahead and relive that moment you almost bought Bitcoin at $20,000 but didn’t. We’ll wait.
While those numbers make Silicon Valley look like a sure thing, some of Africa’s exits have happened—albeit with more secrecy.
Enter Oui Capital. This early-stage African VC made a modest $150,000 bet on Moniepoint (initially called TeamApt)—a fintech startup that, at the time, was just another hopeful in a crowded market.
As managing partner Olu Oyinsan recalled of founder Tosin Eniolorunda, “His understanding of banking technology stack and payment infrastructure was impressive. I knew he was up to something exciting.” Convinced that Moniepoint’s $12 million post-money valuation was a bargain, Oui Capital bet on the team’s engineering prowess to solve high transaction failure rates.
Again, think of when your favourite coin was at $2,000—you blinked and missed the ride.
Fast-forward a few years: Moniepoint reaches unicorn status with a valuation north of $1 billion and raises a cool $110 million in its Series C round. Oui Capital sold some shares in a secondary transaction, turning their initial seed into roughly $8 million—a jaw-dropping 53x return that returned their debut fund 2x and left investors blushing. Secondary transactions, by the way, occur when existing shareholders sell their shares to another investor, rather than the company issuing new ones.
This isn’t just about avoiding failure; it’s a compelling argument for supporting VCs who genuinely understand the African market. While Silicon Valley investors pop champagne over exits that break the internet, African players like Oui Capital show that success doesn’t need flashy headlines but conviction and local insight. Their story proves that sometimes the right investments, made with an in-depth understanding of local dynamics, can yield outsized returns.
So next time you’re crunching exit multiples and wondering what kind of exit should make a headline, remember: the biggest wins might just come from “small bets” in Africa. Now, drink some water, get back to work, and let this story remind you that game-changing exits are possible when you invest with local expertise.
If you’ve made 53x, please skip this story. If you haven’t, fix up, stat: You can read our in-depth article here.
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