At Octerra, our mission to empower innovators goes beyond providing capital. We support our founders with all the resources they need to thrive. To close out H1 2024, we held our first-ever Octerra Portfolio Retreat, bringing together our portfolio companies to share learnings. We believe in peer-to-peer learning as the catalyst for achieving greater collective outcomes.
We began with a 90-sec. Pitch Competition for a cash prize. Ife Durosinmi-Etti of Herconomy won the $5,000 award by attendee votes.
Key Lesson: The power of storytelling in pitches. Ife’s winning pitch narrated the financial challenges faced by Nigerian women and Herconomy’s solution highlighting the importance of impactful storytelling.
Julian Flobasch, CEO/Co-Founder of BFREE, discussed their transition from pioneering an ethical AI-driven approach for credit collections, amid COVID-19 challenges. Initially scaling rapidly with their “Collections as a Service” model, they struggled with sustaining their high growth curve. Recognising the need for a new strategy, they evolved to a business model that leverages their robust data and collection capabilities.
Key Lesson: Strategic pivoting and risk management. BFREE’s resilience emphasises strategic risk management and agility in response to market dynamics.
Temie Giwa-Tuboson, CEO/Co-Founder of Lifebank, shared strategies for raising non-dilutive capital through grants, revenue-based financing and debt financing. She focused on raising non-dilutive capital without distraction and building efficient operations. LifeBank’s journey has been marked by the strategic use of non-dilutive capital to fuel R&D, growth and impact in the African healthcare space.
Key Lesson: Leveraging diverse funding sources. Businesses can raise funds for growth, innovation, and sustainability without sacrificing equity.
Carmelle Cadet, CEO/Co-Founder of EMTECH focused on their fundraising journey through a successful Seed and A-Round. Her mantra was having an infinite funding universe mindset, instead of a “funding winter” scarcity mindset. Carmelle emphasised the importance of having a clear vision and communicating the vision while showcasing strong business acumen. She also highlighted the magic of networking, visibility through storytelling and personalised fundraising approaches across geographies.
Key Lesson: Mindset matters. By embracing an expansive view of funding opportunities, and maintaining unwavering belief in your vision, you can navigate the complexities of fundraising with strategic clarity and resilience.
As we reflect on the success of our first retreat, we are energised by the collective wisdom gained. To all our participants, thank you for your engagement and openness. Your contributions have set a high bar for future gatherings. We’re excited to build on this momentum, knowing that each session brings us closer to realising our vision of accelerating prosperity on the African continent.
