Olu Oyinsan bets on worthwhile exits for early-stage traders

For a lot of the previous decade, early-stage exits in Africa have been uncommon. Traders poured thousands and thousands into startups, however few delivered liquidity occasions for his or her early backers. That’s beginning to change—and early-stage traders are now not leaving it to probability. They’re intentionally engineering exits from the bottom up. 

Traders now search for startups constructed with a transparent path to profitability and exit logic from the beginning, stated Olu Oyinsan, managing director at Oui Capital, on Wednesday throughout an Ask an Investor fireplace chat at Moonshot by TechCabal. Oui Capital, the early-stage VC agency he co-founded in 2018, recorded a 53x return from its early funding in Moniepoint, the Nigerian fintech that grew to become a unicorn in 2024.

“The motive force of returns is worth,” stated Oyinsan. “Worth on the firm degree is income, money circulate, and revenue. When you’re not creating this stuff, you’re not creating worth. If there’s no worth, there’s nothing to transform to money. The cash VCs spend money on startups comes from different individuals, referred to as LPs [limited partners]. So if you assume a VC is providing you with a tricky time, bear in mind they’ve seen ten occasions that.”

The rising variety of exits in Africa helps this shift. Nigerian startups OmniRetail and LemFi lately delivered returns of 5x and 29x, respectively, for his or her early investor, Silverback Holdings. In Francophone Africa, Saviu Ventures bought its majority stake in Ivorian logistics startup Kamtar to Logidoo, exhibiting that exits have gotten a part of the continent’s enterprise story. To date in 2025, Africa has recorded 29 mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the first half of the 12 months, greater than in every other half-year interval.

In accordance with knowledge intelligence agency Briter, whereas Africa’s whole deal quantity dropped by 28% in 2024, exit exercise rose barely, pointing to a market the place traders are transferring away from hype-driven funding cycles towards disciplined portfolio building, which emphasises sound entry valuations, operational effectivity, sturdy possession positions, and founders who can appeal to follow-on capital or strategic exits from later-stage patrons.

For Oyinsan, engineering exits means backing companies with a transparent path to profitability. He describes this as companies with a “fastened value restoration” that earn more money than they spend on an operational fastened value foundation over time. 

“It is advisable to know whether it is contributing to fastened value restoration,” stated Oyinsan. “If I purchase a bottle of water for ₦50 and promote it for ₦55, in the future I’ll promote sufficient bottles to cowl my hire. But when I purchase for ₦50 and promote for ₦50 or much less, I’ll by no means create worth,” he added, emphasising his level.

He additionally famous that conviction in founders stays the strongest indicator of success. Oui Capital’s guess on founders is predicated on the founders’ technical and business depth of understanding, their product, and their self-discipline in execution. For Oyinsan, constructing conviction means backing founders who’ve a powerful drive for the options they wish to create and are out there to construct long-term.

“Their ‘why’ determines what occurs when issues get robust,” stated Oyinsan. “As a VC, you don’t spend money on any firm that you simply don’t assume goes to return your entire fund. It’s a must to go for the lengthy photographs, and if you try this, spend money on a variety of them. It is advisable to have that sort of conviction, and in case you don’t, you must stroll away.”

One other recurring theme in the course of the session was the position of diversification. The very best outcomes typically come when startups align product readiness with clear market demand and know the right way to strongly promote their product to clients. For traders, making moonshot bets on these startups is what separates their fund from danger or destroy.

“Make it possible for in all of the investments you’ve made, be sure that a couple of could make you make all the cash you’ve invested in all the businesses,” stated Oyinsan. “It’s a must to diversify throughout sectors, currencies, and even phases, in order that if some pillars fall, your fund doesn’t collapse.”

Africa’s enterprise market continues to be in its early phases, and sustainable exits will take time to mature. Constructing startups with clear exit pathways, investor self-discipline, and operational energy might be key to turning remoted success tales right into a repeatable mannequin for the continent’s enterprise ecosystem.

Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is again in Lagos on October 15–16! Meet and study from Africa’s prime founders, creatives & tech leaders for two days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward concepts. Get your tickets now: moonshot.techcabal.com