023: Manuel Koser -- Why the Silicon Valley VC Model isn’t a Good Fit for Africa

Manuel Koser is the co-founder of Silvertree Holdings, a South African investment firm. You can connect with him @ManuelKoser on Twitter. Originally from Germany, Manuel started his career as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During an assignment in South Africa, he fell in love with Cape Town. Looking to relocate there permanently, he left BCG and co-founded Zando, South Africa’s e-commerce fast fashion platform. After he stopped running the day-to-day operations at Zando, he helped to co-found Jumia Nigeria. In 2013, Manuel set up Silvertree Holdings, a holding company that invests and develops South African startups. Manuel was disenchanted with the large-scale, heavily capitalized, and massive valuation startup model that was epitomized by Jumia. He wanted to take a radically different approach to his investment model that provided patient capital and resources and mentorship to startup founders. We chatted about Manuel’s early days at Zando, his involvement with Jumia Nigeria, and why the Silicon Valley model isn’t a good fit for African startups. Without further ado, here’s my conversation with Manuel Koser.