I have been privileged over the course of my Private Equity career to work with passionate, global investors committed to unlocking the transformational power of capital as a catalyst for profound change, positively impacting lives and changing the narrative in frontier markets. Highlights of this include jointly leading an equity investment in Indorama Fertiliser which today, with its production of 3 million metric tons of Urea per annum through its two world-class fertiliser plants, is contributing to the regions' industrialisation. More recently, we embarked on the mission of transforming healthcare in under-served markets and made some great strides towards achieving this in bringing Evercare Hospital Lekki to life.
My passion for Venture Capital was ignited during while at Stanford watching peers go on to build unicorns like NuBank,DoorDash and Aurora Solar. We have since presided over one of the longest bull-runs in history. However, like the old adage says 'what goes up must come down', and the slowdown across global markets, has precipitated a correction in the world of venture. This correction, in my opinion, has brought a renewed level of discipline and focus on building sound, sustainable business based on strong fundamentals. Across my early stage platforms, we continue to invest at the frontier of global innovation and support founders in their ambition to build great businesses, which at scale can change the world.
As I reflect on my journey as a private equity investor and healthcare operator by day, and venture capitalist by night (and weekends!), I have relished the numerous opportunities to make impact at scale, and for personal and professional growth. I want to thank those that have been a source of support and motivation along the way.
This year has been a year of transitions, closing the chapter on past adventures and embracing new horizons. I remain energised for what lies ahead, incubating and investing in innovative ideas, forging new partnerships, and building disruptive platforms that will come to define the world of tomorrow.
Passion . Purpose . Performance
It is when we are in transition that we are most completely alive.
William Bridges
Evercare Hospital Lekki 1 Year Anniversary
I started the journey with Evercare in 2015 propelled by my belief in access to quality healthcare as a fundamental human right. Witnessing the gaps in the sector, I made it my personal and professional mission as an investor to make a positive contribution in the space.
With this collective passion, we went on to raise one of the largest dedicated impact funds, and built a global integrated health delivery platform comprising at its peak, over 30+ hospitals,15+ clinics and 80+ diagnostics centers operating across 6 countries (Nigeria, Kenya, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Dubai) and highlighted by CBS as one of the top 50 leaders that will “come to define the world of tomorrow”.
The monumental feat of bringing Evercare Hospital Lekki to life in March 2021, six years after my journey began, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic was only made possible by the steadfast support and belief of a group of investors who were unwavering in their commitment to make quality healthcare accessible for millions of people across Africa and South Asia.
In March 2022, 12 months after the formal commissioning, the Hospital hosted anniversary celebrations with its stakeholders to commemorate some key milestones:
Evercare Lekki made history as the first hospital in Nigeria to receive final if IFC EDGE certification as a resource-efficient and environmentally friendly designed building driving sustainable healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Evercare Lekki received pioneer status in recognition of its pioneering contributions to the healthcare sector in Nigeria.
Evercare Hospital Lekki - The One Year Journey
To commemorate the 1 Year Anniversary, we were joined by Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, the Commissioner for Health Lagos State,Prof. Akin Abayomiand Uche OrjiCEO NSIA: Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority. We collectively discussed the opportunities for public and private sector collaboration, key learnings and insights from the Evercare journey and how we can replicate the model across the country.
Most importantly, we paid recognition to the 11,000+ Evercare caregivers around the world, especially the Evercare Hospital Lekki family - they are the true heroes of the Evercare story. I am humbled by their passion and commitment, working tirelessly and selflessly to deliver on our mission of providing best-in-class standards of patient safety, clinical excellence and outstanding clinical outcomes I look forward to what the future holds for Evercare.
The Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire Visits Evercare Hospital Lekki
First Year Anniversary Highlights at Evercare Hospital Lekki
As market conditions tighten globally, it is imperative to continue identifying breakout entrepreneurs at the earliest stages and supporting them to scale.
Temi Marcella Awogboro, Lead GP Africa and Latin America
MAGIC Highlights
MAGIC is honoured to be on the frontlines of facilitating global innovation. As the global markets slowed down, we deepened our data-centric approach to decision-making and focused on dedicating time to building a robust resource framework to support our founders in the current market climate.
Earlier this year, MAGIC was listed as one of Y Combinators's top 10 investors, with a large number of these startups having been funded by MAGIC prior to YC. This validates our ability to continue finding great founders globally at the earliest stages and help them scale.
🇳🇬 Bambooraised a $15M Series A round led by Greycroft and Tiger Global. Bamboo is the first online platform that enables Africans to buy US/Global securities.
🇺🇸 Nue.life Healthclosed a Series A funding of $15M led by Obvious Ventures. Nue.life provides access to quality mental health treatment by leveraging technology, AI, and evidence-based treatments.
🇺🇸 Promoted closed a $5M round. Promoted.ai provides the software, infrastructure, and real-time backend delivery systems for marketplaces to build their self-service, native promoted listings.
🇳🇬 CryptoLeague raised a $2.2M pre-seed round. CryptoLeague is building an on-chain social-trading platform where “investors” can choose their favorite portfolio managers and bet on winners via gamified tournaments.
🇻🇳 Homebase raised an additional $1.5M. Homebase is a personalized rent-to-own real estate financing using technology in SEA.
🇺🇸 Nophin raised a $1.5M seed round. Nophin is the financial platform for landlords.
🇳🇬 Orda raised a $1.1M pre-seed round to scale its software across Africa. This round was led by pan-African investor LoftyInc Capital.
🇺🇸 Jambys raised $1M pre-series A bridge round. Jambys designs clothes specifically for wearing inside. They are a loungewear company expanding into more apparel.
Let's create MAGIC together. Get in touch if you are interested in working together.
Kairos Highlights
We started Kairos Angels driven by a passion as founders and investors to identify and partner with unreasonable founders pursuing ideas that at scale would change the world for the better. We believe in this now more than ever with fast changing global landscape. Kairos continued to deploy, alongside its angels into the global venture ecosystem. We are proud of the progress our Kairos portfolio companies made:
🇳🇬 Nestcoin: Raised $6.5M pre-seed capital to accelerate crypto and web3 adoption in Africa and frontier markets. Nestcoin’s products cut across Decentralized Finance (DeFi), media, digital art and gaming.
🇰🇪 Kukua: Raised $6M Series A, led by Alchimia and Tencent. The investment will support its goal to continue building an IP-centric kids’ “edutainment” universe with new Super Sema original content, licensing, merchandise and publishing offerings. Super Sema has amassed over 40M+ views on YouTube.
🇺🇸 EarlyBird: Brought on board top tier investors in $2M Seed+ SAFE round including strategic investors such as, Sweater Ventures, and LightSpeed Scout Fund.
🇰🇪 Okhi:Raised $1.5M Seed extension to scale its smart address verification service across Africa, bringing its total raised to $3M from investors including Chapel Hill Denham, and EXFI (a syndicate of ex-Googlers), with Bolaji Balogun, set to join Okhi’s Board.
Please contact me if you want to talk further about any of the companies in the portfolio, or trends in the market more broadly.
FELLOWSHIPS
As a Kauffman Fellow, I remain committed to living the best version of myself, in order to best serve the entrepreneurs I invest in and in my pursuit to champion innovation globally.
Temi Marcella Awogboro, Kauffman Mexico Summit, April 2022
Kauffman Fellowship (KF23) Reflections
I joined the Kauffman Fellows Programme in 2018 as a Fellow of Class 23. In a historic year for Kauffman Fellows, and the capital formation industry at large, the fellowship program welcomed its most diverse class, selected from the most competitive and outstanding pool of applicants in the history of the organization.
As I graduate as a Fellow of the Kauffman Fellows Class 23 I share some of my key reflections over the course of the years. I am committed to living the best version of myself to best serve the entrepreneurs I invest in and in my pursuit to champion innovation globally.
The Milken Institute Global Conference convened the best minds in the world to tackle its urgent challenges and envision its exciting opportunities. The event brought together individuals with the capital, power, and influence to change the world with those whose expertise and creativity are reimagining the future. The pandemic transformed the way we convene, collaborate, and connect—sparking both innovation for what’s next and gratitude for what once was. The 25th annual Global Conference centered on the theme of “Celebrating the Power of Connection.”
I co-hosted a Women of Color in Venture Capital private chef tasting with Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN) and Cap Table Coalition connecting women (and their allies) in venture capital from across the globe, to promote collaboration and joint investments across VC ecosystems.
As a member of Milken's Young Leaders Circle, I look forward to deeper engagement with the Institute.
Celebrating the Power of Connection.
The Milken Institute 25th annual Global Conference, May 2022
HONOURS & AWARDS
The Women of Lagos are powerful, visionary and represent our great state at the highest level globally. This week we celebrated 100 of them in a project called #Eko100Women. These women have made Lagos their home bringing their expertise and excellence to great effect.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, March 2022
EKO 100 Women Honours
The 'EKO 100 Women', identifies and honours the women who are blazing the trail in their fields while contributing to the progressive development of Lagos State and inspiring the next generation.
It was an honour to be recognized by His Excellency Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State and the Lagos State Governmentas an EKO 100 woman in recognition of my commitment to mobilizing capital to forge a more equitable world.
MEDIA & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
The Nigeria Startup Bill
The Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) is a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech startup ecosystem and the Presidency to harness the potential of Nigeria's digital economy through co-created regulations. The Bill will ensure that Nigeria's laws and regulations are clear, planned and work for the tech ecosystem. This, we believe, will contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for growth, attraction and protection of investment in tech startups.
In July 2022, the NSB passed its third reading at the lower house of the country’s parliament, the House of Representatives and is now awaiting Presidential assent.
Temi Marcella Awogboro Speaks on the Nigeria Startup Bill
Gozemand IFC partner to empower 6,000 Moto-Taxi drivers in Togo and Benin
Gozem and IFC joined forces to co-develop a $10M project that will enable Moto-Taxi drivers in Togo and Benin to access affordable vehicle financing to purchase or rent bikes with the ultimate goal of increasing their take-home income.
Kuunda raises $2.25M in equity to expand access to liquidity for the underserved
Kuunda completed its $2.25M Seed financing round, led by Accion Venture Lab, with participation from FINCA Ventures, MAGIC, Mercy Corps Ventures and Seedstars. The funding is slated to boost Kuunda’s existing operations – which span Tanzania and Pakistan – and allow it to expand into DRC, Egypt, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.
