If you’re active on Twitter, chances are high that you’ve come across insights on African tech, startups and gender-lens investing from @JasielInvests, an account that became a thought leader in less than a year.
Jasiel Martin-Odoom is the mind behind that Twitter account. An ex-investment banker and accomplished Venture Capitalist (VC) who has helped 100+ startups that raised $2.5 billion in funding, it’s no surprise that Jasiel can write compelling insights daily. On top of that, he has a biweekly newsletter, Startup Definition Sunday, dedicated to helping founders gain clarity.
Interestingly, writing isn’t Jasiel’s full-time job. Instead, it’s a side project he does after his day job at Accion Venture Lab, where he works as an Africa Investment Officer.
Jasiel and I caught up to explore his transition from Wall Street to African VC, his work at Accion Venture Lab, and how he managed to help 100+ startups raise billions of dollars in funding.
Let’s get to it!
What is your job description at Accion?
To best understand my role, you’d have to think about it in three buckets. The first one is portfolio management. I’m tasked with supporting our African portfolio companies to further scale their growth and impact. This support ranges from talent placement to fundraising.
The second bucket comprises pipeline development and ecosystem building. Essentially, I look for scalable and capital-efficient fintech companies – both in primary markets (like Lagos and Nairobi) and emerging markets like (francophone Africa and Ghana) – that best fit our investment thesis.
The last bucket of my role entails relationship building, which extends outside work hours. Here, I get to build meaningful relationships with ecosystem builders and investors like myself. As a cherry on top, I leverage online writing to attract and engage startup founders.
JA: You have an interesting job description.
Jasiel: Thank you.
What informs Accion Venture Lab’s laser focus on fintech?
The global financial system overlooks most people. Almost two billion people across the globe are unbanked, 60% of whom live in Africa. As if that’s not enough, over 60% of the world’s employed population are in the informal economy, meaning the majority lack formal access to banks’ financial services.
All these point to the need for financial inclusion, which tech-enabled companies can achieve at a large scale. At Accion Venture Lab, we are a leading early-stage fintech investor in emerging markets with significant experience in embedded finance. With our financial inclusion lens, we have invested in over 60 startups across emerging markets with 1/6th of our investments in Africa.
JA: Reasonable rationale!
What are the investment criteria at Accion Venture Lab?
We typically invest in startups using technology to build scalable, profitable businesses that provide financial services to the world’s 1.8 billion financially underserved. We invest up to $1 million in pre-seed to pre-series A startups and can continue to follow on in subsequent rounds. Our diligence process takes anywhere from a month and a half to two months, including in-country diligence with the team, stakeholders, and customers.
Has the recent economic downturn affected Accion Venture Lab’s investment approach?
Not at all. During the euphoria of the last few years, we remained focused on the unit economics of the companies we invested in, and that hasn’t changed. Given the significant implication of the downturn on fintech companies, we will continue to prioritize supporting our portfolio companies: Our in-house consulting/operations team works with portfolio companies post-investment to collaboratively address the top key needs that the founder(s) is focused on. In the past, we’ve helped refine pricing models, develop new go-to-market strategies, explore international expansion opportunities, build out credit policies, etc.
What types of fintech founders do you think will survive the downturn?
Fintech founders that will survive this downturn are those with a firm grasp of their financials and a scalable customer acquisition strategy. As global venture funding slows down, there is an increased focus on the unit economics of startups that are looking to raise. A founder who has spent time building a scalable customer acquisition strategy at positive unit economics and can communicate that with investors will stand out.
I expect that we’ll see that the eventual winners are those that efficiently deploy capital, achieve their milestones, and derisk their business at every investment stage.
JA: Amazing! How long have you been working at Accion Venture Lab?
Jasiel: 7 months.
What have you gleaned from your short stay at Accion Venture Lab so far?
One, you can never get past the value of unit economics. Nothing beats building a capital-efficient business. This is a crucial lesson proven by the downturn and our portfolio companies continued success.
Two, you cannot create a tech solution and expect an emerging market to buy it. Instead, you have to combine your solution with the existing informal structure and touchpoints in the sector you’re trying to disrupt. We have learned from our portfolio companies that the tech and touch approach is critical for success in the markets we invest in.
Lastly, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of platform businesses in creating financial inclusion. Through Apollo Agriculture, one of our portfolio companies, I’ve seen the value a platform business can provide to smallholder farmers who need input financing to grow their crops.
JA: Useful lessons.
Have you always wanted to work in VC, though?
No. In fact, I wanted to become a criminal profiler and studied Criminal Justice at St. John’s university.
Oh. So what changed?
One day at the university library, I stumbled on David Bornstein’s How to Change the World. This book unlocked a new passion in me as it showed me a more sustainable way to create change, which had always interested me. As a result, I left for NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service after graduation. There, I bagged an MPA (Masters of Public Administration) in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. This program deepened my understanding of impact investing as I got to be part of the NYU impact investment fund as a student manager. This position exposed me to the usefulness of corporate finance as a skill in startup investment. Basking in my new-found experience, I pursued a career in wall street by working at Goldman Sachs as an Investment Banking Analyst.
How long did you work at Goldman Sachs?
2 years and four months.
What happened after leaving Goldman?
I gave up my work visa in the UK and moved back home (Ghana) in late 2020 to work with founders on the continent. To kickstart this journey, I first worked at Unreasonable, a venture accelerator, where I was a portfolio manager supporting over 100 impact-focused companies in the UK & EMEA.
After a year, I joined Unreasonable’s syndicate fund as a Senior Investment Associate responsible for all aspects of the deal execution process – from sourcing to supporting post-close operational initiatives. I did this for eight months and joined Accion Labs afterwards.
What a journey! Leaving Goldman Sachs for uncertainty must have been scary.
It was! It’s hard leaving a high-paying job for an unknown future.
When did you feel validated about your decision to leave Wall Street?
I wish I could tell you I immediately knew it was the right decision, but I didn’t. At first, it seemed I had made a grave mistake as things weren’t rosy financially, but now that I look back, I’m glad I took the bold step. I love what I do currently.
Besides having more flexibility over my work hours and output, I’m more versatile and knowledgeable. Compared to investment banking, which required me to work mundanely, VC is exciting as there’s so much to learn. I read 10x what I used to read as an investment banker. I’m also privileged to work with people building world-changing technologies.
What are the biggest key takeaways you’ve learned from your VC career?
First, I’ve learned the importance of supporting companies. Beyond giving capital to startups, funds need to provide strategic support because that’s the primary way startups can survive in trying times such as a downturn.
Working in VC has also exposed me to the information asymmetry in Africa. There is a huge information gap limiting Africa’s ecosystem’s growth. Many founders lack access to the right information. This is what informs my regular writing on Twitter.
How have you been able to help 100+ startups secure over $2.5 billion in funding?
My deal-sourcing mechanism has evolved over time. Today, it cuts across three channels. The first is Accion Venture Lab’s branding, which garners many inbound requests. The second channel comprises other fintech investors who often share potential deals with me. The third channel is my online writing. My regular Twitter threads and newsletter constantly attract founders and referrals to me.
Beyond these deal-flow channels, I stay proactive by researching opportunities in areas I care about the most. Currently, a few thesis areas I am excited to find investing opportunities in are: agritech, logistics and transportation, verticalized non-FMCG B2B marketplaces, future of work and climate resilience.
How do you handle missing deals?
I just lost a deal that closed really quickly. So I’ve lost a lot more deals than I’d like to admit [laughs]. But the way you deal with missing deals boils down to your perspective: I know I can’t always participate in every round.
Also, you sometimes miss deals due to unforeseen circumstances. For instance, we once lost a deal because the round closed quickly on a weekend.
JA: Love that approach.
How do you handle competitive rounds?
One of the benefits of Accion Venture Lab’s track record and fintech expertise is that there are few funds that have similar depth: we have invested in more than 60 innovative, early-stage fintech companies across 35 countries in emerging markets since 2012 with 1/6 of our portfolio companies in Africa. This allows us to bring a specific focus that other investors may not have. However, we also firmly believe in the value of having different investors supporting a company; We don’t take up whole funding rounds on our own.
So tell me. What are your top three favourite startups?
Lami Technologies, Club Zero, and Kuunda.
What do you love about them?
I love Lami because they’re doing something I find interesting. They’re taking the open API approach to provide insurance for B2B and B2C companies. This approach can increase the current 3% insurance penetration rate in Africa.
I’m a big fan of Club Zero and even participated in their angel investment round because they’re doing a great job solving the global waste crisis.
Lastly, I’m rooting for Kuunda’s mission to provide liquidity to agents, MSMEs, and consumers in Tanzania & Pakistan, with other geographies launching this year. This is super exciting when you consider the continent’s interest rate environment, inflation, and supply chain problems. We need more solutions, like Kuunda, truly targeted to the unbanked and underbanked in Africa.
What is your outlook for the African ecosystem in 2023?
With more investors focused on capital efficiency, I predict that more investors will be working to drive value to exist and new portfolio companies to weather this downturn.
As a fund, Accion Venture Lab has maintained a focus on portfolio management and sustainable growth over the last decade, even during the bull market of the last few years and that focus will continue unabated this upcoming year.
Accion Venture Lab’s commitment to portfolio companies remains the same: providing value to founders with both capital and operational support. Leveraging our in-house consulting/operations team, we will work with our new and existing portfolio companies post-investment to collaboratively address the top key needs that the founder is focused on. We expect to see more investors emulating our approach to portfolio support and management for founders building great businesses.
Additionally, with the pandemic accelerating digitization and increasing the need for financial services among those that are un(der)banked, we continue to be convinced of the value of African fintechs to unlock growth and development for the populations we care about. For instance, our portfolio company Kuunda provides liquidity to agents, micro-merchants, and consumers in the informal sector in collaboration with partners like mobile money operators, digital marketplaces, and other large corporates. The demand for their solution has led to expansion this quarter and next year into new geographies: Malawi, Zambia and Uganda.
Considering the interest rate environment and persistent inflationary & supply chain pressures on the continent, we expect to see more of such opportunities for fintech solutions in Africa to reach those that are un(der)banked in 2023. We are particularly excited to explore opportunities in Agri-fintech, embedded MSME finance and the future of work, to back and support African founders with our decade-long expertise in fintech investing across global emerging markets.
What do you wish investors would do differently?
Simple: invest in more women-led and co-founded startups in Africa. It is a missed business opportunity that less than 4% of Africa’s VC funding went to female CEOs in 2022.
If you could restart your career, what would you have done differently?
I would not wait until I worked in VC to begin working with founders. Today, I meet many young people who are still in university but already working with founders or connecting themselves to investors. I did not have that clarity on my career at that age!
Which investor would you like to see next on The Investor Corner?
Yvonne Okafor from Untapped Global.
