Backing operator-led startups and unlocking Africa’s tech growth – Maria Rotilu, founder, OpenseedVC

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UKTN

Technology, Entrepreneur, Tech, Business, Hr, Sales, Uktech, Investing, Funding, Entrepreneurship, Marketing

5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Maria Rotilu, founder and general Partner at OpenseedVC, discusses the thesis behind backing operator-led startups, and how Africa's large, youthful population - combined with decreasing barriers to innovation - is positioning the continent as a valuable investment opportunity.

Rotilu is an operator-turned-investor and founder, specialising in backing operators-turned-founders who are building tech startups as early as day zero. Before transitioning to investing, she spent the better part of the first decade of her career scaling multinational technology companies like Uber and Branch.co, holding leadership roles such as country manager and general manager.

Prior to OpenseedVC, Rotilu was a fund manager at Octopus Ventures' First Cheque Fund. Before that, she served as the managing director of the Oxford Seed Fund. OpenseedVC is typically the first investor, providing up to $150k and supporting tech startups in B2B software, AI, fintech, the future of work, or the future of health by leveraging an operator network to support them from start to launch.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Our thesis is that businesses are not as digitized as we think.
0:09.0	There are so many legacy businesses and also processes within organizations that are still very much stock.
0:16.0	We all know that business is power economies, and I think that innovation off the back of technology
0:23.6	is one way that Africa can actually increase productivity.
0:29.6	The UK is not in a silo. No country is in a silo. So we are competing, you know, alongside
0:40.9	global jurisdictions for where people will choose to domicile their funds.
0:50.0	From the first time founders to the funds that back them, innovation needs different.
0:55.7	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and life science businesses,
1:03.2	creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors alike.
1:09.8	Discover more at www.h.hbc Innovationbanking.com slash en dashGB.
1:21.2	Hello and welcome to the UKTN podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and shakers of the UK tech industry and the destination
1:29.4	for all things UK tech related. I'm your host, Jane Wakefield, and joining me this week is
1:35.0	Maria Routillo, founder and general partner at venture capital firm OpenSeed, which invests
1:40.7	up to $150,000 in founders starting their tech companies.
1:45.9	Welcome, Maria.
1:46.8	Thank you, Jane.
1:47.7	Now, you're getting involved in these companies at quite an early stage.
1:52.9	So my first question is, how do you decide what's going to be a good thing to back?
1:59.0	I'm sure it's a question you've been asked many, many times. Yeah, so it is, and it's a great question. I think it's a good thing to back. I'm sure it's a question you've been asked many, many times.
2:01.6	Yeah, so it is and it's a great question.
2:03.6	It's a good way to start.
2:05.6	Just to backped it a little bit, I would say that with OpenCBC,
	...

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