The BIG5D Podcast

In this episode of the BIG5D Podcast, host Charles Laughlin sits down with Jill Kerr, co-founder of Misfit Ventures, and Laura Thomas, founder of The Aligned Woman, to talk about the struggles female founders face in Africa. Recorded live at the 2026 BigFive Summit in Cape Town, this conversation tackles the stark reality that female-led startups in Africa receive just 2% of venture capital funding, despite often outperforming their male peers. Jill shares how her debt fund backs high-performing, real-economy female-led SMEs, while Laura discusses her expert-led educational platform and plans for an AI-driven women's ecosystem. The two explore navigating unconscious bias, pitching to male-dominated investors, and the gritty realities of entrepreneurship. This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is supported by Telkom. At Telkom, possible begins here. Learn more at Telkom.co.za.

Welcome to the BIG5D Podcast, home to important conversations on the Business of African Tech. We recorded this interview with Zach George, the CEO and co-founder of Launch Africa Ventures, on stage at the March BigFive Summit in Cape Town. T his episode is sponsored by Telkom, also the lead sponsor of the 2026 BigFive Summit. At Telkom, “Possible Begins Here”. Learn more at Telkom.co.za Sitting down for a lively fireside chat with Zach has become something of a BigFive Summit tradition. And this year Zach delivered every bit of the candor, insight…and profanity we have come to expect from him. Launch Africa has invested in roughly 170 companies across two funds, mostly in B2B. The company has three African unicorns in its portfolio. Our discussion ranged from surging African M&A to the enduring dominance of fintech to the power of stablecoins to reduce cost and friction in remittances. The BIG5D Podcast is a production of BigFive Digital. If you would like to book a guest or sponsor an episode, contact us via [email protected].

Welcome to the BIG5D Podcast, where we bring you meaningful conversations on the Business of African Tech. We recorded this interview with Rahul Jain, the CEO and co-founder of Peach Payments, on stage in March 2026 at the BigFive Summit in Cape Town. This episode is sponsored by Telkom, also the lead sponsor of the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town. At Telkom, “Possible Begins Here”. Learn more at Telkom.co.za Peach Payments was launched in South Africa more than a decade ago and now facilitates digital commerce across nine African countries. Rahul Jain isn't just looking at where payments are now; he’s looking at where they’re going. In this conversation, Rahul offers us a masterclass on scaling a fintech on the African continent. The BIG5D Podcast is a production of BigFive Digital. If you would like to book a guest or sponsor an episode, please contact us via [email protected].

Episode 57 of the Big5D Podcast again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a primer on how to choose a digital marketing agency partner led by Summit Co-host Amanda Louw-Bester (Pragmattica Consulting) and featuring Bianca Waterberg, the founder and CEO of the Cape Town digital agency Nspyre, which specializes in paid media and SEO. Really, it all comes down to clear and effective communication. As Bianca puts it during this conversation, "You want your agency to explain things to you clearly." The conversation also gets real about spotting red flags in a potential agency partner. And overpromising, for example, by guaranteeing immediate results that are nearly impossible to deliver, is high on the list of red flags to watch for. Our Sponsor This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is sponsored by Dialog (localdialog.com). “Answering your 'local' questions with unique data & insights”

In Episode 56 of the BIG5D Podcast, we talk about venture building with Keshni Morar, the MD-South Africa, Founder Institute. The conversation jumps off from a LinkedIn post Keshni wrote about #Statuptruth in which she laments how too many startup founders fail to appreciate the need to carefully manage the funds they raise from investors. “$1M in funding doesn't make you rich,” Keshni wrote. “It makes you responsible.” Keshni’s post goes on to recount the story of one founder who spent VC money on a “founder wellness” trip to a tropical island. The substance of Keshni’s post is that venture funding is runway, not revenue. We hope you enjoy this episode, sponsored by NSPYRE (nspyre.co.za)

Episode 55 of the Big5D Podcast once again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a panel on Go to Market Strategies for SMEs led by Summit Co-host Amanda Louw-Bester (Pragmattica Consulting). The panel features three entrepreneurs who have seen it all and can at the very least steer small business founders away from obvious mistakes in the early stages of their business journey. The panelists offer a wide array of insights for founders on everything from tactics to avoid to tactics not to overlook, especially in a business's early stages. The panelists joining Amanda are Bernadene Appalsamy, Ledger Leap; Tim Shoko, Umlilo Energy; and Remi du Preez, Polygon. This episode of the Big5D Podcast is supported by the 2025 BigFive Summit sponsors. Absa Group (absa.africa) Dialog (localdialog.com) Nspyre (nspyre.co.za) Networds (networds.co.za) AfriGIS (afrigis.co.za) Pragmattica Consulting (pragmattica.co.za)

Episode 54 of the BIG5D Podcast again turns to the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town for source material. This episode features a panel discussion of the kinds of support, in addition to capital, that African startups need to be successful -- things like best practice sharing and mentorship, among others. Sharing their views are Lucie Fink, CEO of Thinkroom Consulting; Egla Ntumba of MsFit Ventures, and Thapelo Ntite, Co-founder of Botlhale AI. This discussion originally took place on stage on 8 May at Innovation City Cape Town.

Episode 53 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of an on-stage interview with Loop Co-founder Jamie Wyngaard at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Loop is a South African fintech startup that has digitized payments for African minibus taxi drivers using WhatsApp. Loop's broader ambition is to become a payment solution for emerging markets. Episode 53 of the BIG5D Podcast is supported by The 2025 BigFive Summit Sponsors. The Summit's sponsors were led by Premium Sponsor Absa Group and also included Dialog, NSPYRE, Networds, AfriGIS, and Pragmattica Digital Consulting.

Episode 52 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of a Fireside Chat (sans fire) that we recorded with Zachariah George at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Zach is the Managing Partner of Launch Africa Ventures, the Cape Town venture firm that has invested in African startups including Happy Pay, Peach Payments, Kuda Bank, Moove, Gozem, and many others. Zach has a very clear perspective on Africa Tech. He believes there needs to be more funding for tech startups that comes from within Africa, in particular South Africa. And he also thinks fouders in Africa need to take a different view on venture capital. Do not chase it before you are ready. Be ready to boostrap until you have a product with a clear path to market and impriving unit economics. And for the love of everthing that is good, do some basic research on a fund before approaching it for an investment.

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Local Knowledge. Episode 51 of the BIG5D Podcast, features a conversation about using the subscription model to help South Africans gain access to automobiles in a non-traditional manner with Tinashe Ruzane, the co-founder and CEO of FlexClub. FlexClub helps South Africans access vehicles when they need them on a pay-as-you-go basis (they partner with major car rental platforms in South Africa). Ruzane, a former Uber executive, explains why car subscriptions make more sense in a market like South Africa where the need for vehicles is high but accessibility is very limited.

This podcast usually talks to guests with a foot on the ground in Africa or the Middle East. For this episode, we make an exception. Neal Polachek is an old colleague who has co-founded Dialog, a business doing groundbreaking research around small business use of AI. Dialog is learning not just how many SMEs are using AI but why and what the outcome is of this usage. The bottom line is no surprise. Time is the SME's most precious resource and AI gives them back an abundance of time. Dialog is currently US-based but will be expanding globally.

Steven Boykey Sidely is a professor, author, and investor with strongly held views on the threats and opportunities presented by AI. This candid and engaging conversation spans AI safety, the AI opportunity for startups, and AI's geopolitical implications. It is a fascinating conversation that you will not want to miss.

This week's guest on the BIG5D Podcast is Houssam Kayal, the chief revenue officer at FOO, a Dubai-based B2B SaaS company that offers banking-as-a-service and other solutions that help corporations offer financial services. The conversation covers trends in fintech that are making financial services more widely accessible. The BIG5D Podcast is brought to you by BigFive Digital. Questions about the show? Write to us at [email protected]. This episode is supported by Fraktional.dev. "Where innovation meets code, and the possibilities of technology unfold at your fingertips"

Nic Rawhani is a native South African software engineer and McKinsey alum who has co-founded Vula, a company that aims to use AI to solve Africa's SME funding gap, which Rawhani says surpasses $330 billion. The conversation digs into the bad experiences most SMEs face in Africa as they seek the funding any business needs to operate. Rawhani shares how Vula uses AI to make the financing application process easier for both SMEs and the banks who stand to gain from closing the continent's SME funding gap. The BIG5D Podcast is brought to you by BigFive Digital. Questions about the show? Write to us at [email protected]. This episode is supported by Realm Digital. "Empowering industry leaders through innovative business solutions"

Imtiyaz Mohamed is the principal consultant at South Africa technology consulting firm Realm Digital. One of Realm's and Imtiyaz's focus areas is augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR). The conversation focused on clarifying what AR/VR is (and isn't) and how businesses use it today to save money, improve safety, and more. The BIG5D Podcast is brought to you by BigFive Digital. To ask questions, recommend a guest, or inquire about sponsorship, write to us at [email protected] Find @RealDigital on X. The episode is sponsored by Fraktional.dev

Zane Stenning is the Co-founder of Mia Health Technologies, a Cape Town startup that addresses profound needs in Africa by providing greater access to dental care. Zane and his team do this via mobile clinics. But Mia also leans into new technologies from 3D printing to connected technology to AI to scale its services. Zane was a speaker at the 2024 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Realm Digital sponsored this episode of the BIG5D Podcast. Realm empowers industry leaders through innovative business solutions. Contact them at realmdigital.com.

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with John Kitenge, a young South African entrepreneur who founded Fraktional.dev, a marketplace that matches IT talent with startups and cpr[pporates. The interview covers how startups can use alternative workplace models to access higher quality talent, along with a lively discussion on how AI is changing the business of coding. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" which is coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at qkt.io/laNIFj

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with Thaheer Mullins. He is the general partner of Savant Venture Fund, which is a deep tech-focused venture firm and startup accelerator. The interview talks about how the fourth industrial revolution is breeding some very interesting companies that are addressing real needs in Africa. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" which is coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at qkt.io/laNIFj

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with Kimberley Taylor. She is the founder and CEO of Loop, a South African logistics tech company that helps delivery companies with route optimization. The interview talks about how her company progressed from idea to execution as well as the perspective of a young founder on what it takes to run a tech startup and the hard lessons learned int he process of doing so. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" which is coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at qkt.io/laNIFj

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with a conversation with Fiona Tabraham, CEO of Capaciti, a South African organization that provides digital skills training for African youth so that they can compete for tech-related jobs in the private sector. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at https://qkt.io/laNIFj

Episode 2 of the 2024 BigFive Summit Speaker Series featured a chat about economic inclusion with Ashmita Singh, the Co-founder of SwapVend Afrika and the Co-Managing Director for South Africa of AMLANDA Social Entreprises. The conversation is focused on addressing informal SMEs with technology, which has been Singh's life's work. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, 19-20 March in Capoe Town. https://qkt.io/laNIFj

The BigFive Summit Speaker Series features conversations about Africa’s tech scene, empowering SMEs with technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, startup life, and much more featuring the incredible thought leaders who will speak at the 2024 BigFive Summit, 19-20 March in Cape Town. The series’ first guest is Aisha Pandor, the CEO of SweepSouth, a two-sided marketplace startup celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. This podcast series is sponsored by The 2024 BigFive Summit

Episode 38 of the BIG5D Podcast features an interview with Zack Marks. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Jia, a blockchain-based small business lender that is focused on emerging markets, where Marks says there is a $5 trillion small business credit gap. Jia's current operational scope includes Kenya, with ambitions to expand elsewhere within Africa. This episode is sponsored by the no-code website builder Duda. Please visit them at Duda.co to learn more about how they help digital agencies deliver website solutions to their customers.

Episode 37 of the BIG5D Podcast features a conversation with Michelle Geere, CEO of Adbot, a Cape Town startup that automates Google and Bing ads for SMEs. The conversation included a discussion of how AI will change everything from digital marketing to employment to how we create the movies we love. This episode is sponsored by the no-code website builder Duda.co. Please visit them at Duda.co to learn more about how they help digital agencies deliver website solutions to their customers.

Episode 36 of the BIG5D Podcast features a conversation with Caitlin Craig, head of private capital markets at Untapped Global, an asset based financing firm focused on emerging marketing, in particular Africa. This episode is sponsored by the no code website builder Duda.co.

Episode 35 of the Big5D Podcast features an interview with Lavina Ramkissoon, a South African expert on artificial intelligence, who has adopted the personal brand "the aiMom". She is an advisor to the Africa Union and a co-founder of the Fintech Association of South Africa. The discussion is focused on the real opportunity for AI in Africa, particularly for businesses in Africa. This episode is sponsored by Duda www.duda.co/

Episode 34 of the Big5D Podcast features an interview with Brenton Naicker, Director of Capital Formation and Growth at CV VC, a blockchain-focused Swiss venture firm that is actively investing in Africa. The interview includes Brenton's take on recent developments in the cryptocurrency industry. The bulk of the conversation deals with how blockchain-based startups are uniquely well-positioned to solve real-world problems in Africa. This episode is sponsored by Duda www.duda.co/

This episode features an interview with Andrew Katzwinkel, CEO of LayUp Technologies, a South African fintech that offers save now, buy later payments solutions to merchants large and small. This episode includes a discussion of LayUp''s efforts to establish SNBL as a responsible alternative to the popular but controversial buy now, pay later payments method. This episode is sponsored by Duda www.duda.co/

This episode features an interview with Tyler Karahalios, Global Head of Special Projects and Merchant Banking for MarketForce, an East African retail distribution platform that was founded in Kenya in 2018. This episode includes a discussion of MarketForce's effort to build a super app for Africa's informal retailers. This episode is sponsored by Duda www.duda.co/

This episode features an interview with Firas Ahmad, Group CEO, AzamPay, an East African mobile money platform. Topics range from the future of mobile money to the state of venture investing in Africa. To access podcast bonus features, please subscribe at ctlaughlin.substack.com/ This episode is sponsored by Duda https://www.duda.co/

This episode features an interview with Zachariah George, MP of Launch Africa Ventures, an early-stage VC investing in African B2B startups. To access podcast bonus features, subscribe at https://ctlaughlin.substack.com/ Here is a link to the article on the demise of Kune Food.https://ctlaughlin.substack.com/i/60532660/the-sad-demise-of-kune-food This episode is sponsored by Matchcraft https://www.matchcraft.com/

Episode 29: Jason Sive, the CEO of South African virtual credit platform Mobicred talks about the problems facing the buy now, pay later space. This interview was recorded at the BigFive Summit, 12-13 May 2022 in Cape Town.

This episode features South Africa Shark Vinny Lingham talking about his new company Waitroom, why South Africa will never be a tech innovation leader, the true promise of blockchain, and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. This episode is sponsored by Matchcraft

Episode 27 features Gideon Greaves, MD, Africa for CV VC, a Zurich-based blockchain-focused VC firm. Greaves was brought on last year to build the VC firm's Africa practice. As he explains in the podcast, there is plenty of activity among startups built on blockchain technology, many of which address small business pain points. What's missing, Greaves argues, is a stronger supporting ecosystem and more capital. Greaves will also speak at our upcoming BigFive Summit, 11-13 May 2022 in Cape Town. To receive the full, ad-free version of the podcast, please subscribe at https://ctlaughlin.substack.com/

In 2020, Guy Futi left Jumia, where he ran Jumia Food in Nigeria, to launch Orda, a Lagos-based software company that aspires to be the operating system for small (and also large) restaurants across Africa. Great conversation about launching a business and raising money with a born entrepreneur. This is a free version of the podcast. To listen to the full episode, please subscribe at https://ctlaughlin.substack.com/

Episode 25 of the BIG5D Podcast features a conversation with Mike Smits, CFO and a co-founder of Ukheshe, a South African fintech that provides API-first fintech-as-a-service solutions to banks, telecoms, and other fintech companies.

This episode features an interview with Ezana Raswork, CEO of Africa 118 and Taskmoby. The latter company is an Ethiopean home services platform that was a 2021recipient of Google's Black Founders Award, an equity-free investment from the search giant.

Postpay is a player in the Middle East buy now, pay later space. And it hopes soon in the wider Africa, Middle East, and Asian markets. A former consultant, Sheikh launched Postpay in 2019, around the same time as several other regional competitors. The podcast covers the BNPL business model, competitive environment, future direction, and more. Episode sponsored by Matchcraft.com

Deepankar Rustagi founded Omnibiz in 2020 to help small FMCG retailers run their businesses more efficiently. He explains his business and his outlook on Africa's tech scene in this 30-minute interview. The company recently raised $3 million to build out its product and pursue international expansion. Episode sponsored by Matchcraft (matchcraft.com)

The episode features an interview with Kennedy Kamau, a startup veteran who is now managing director of Kune Food, a food-tech startup in Nairobi that has a unique business model, using its own cloud kitchen and a fully owned and operated distribution network. The company raised a $1M pre-seed round this year. This event sparked a brief controversy over supposed preferential treatment for ex-pat startup founders in Africa. Kune's founder is a French national. This episode is sponsored by MatchCraft, a global martech firm with partners on six continents. Please visit them at matchcraft.com.

This episode features Martin Majlund, co-founder and CEO of Sky.Garden, an eCommerce that offers a Shopify-like solution to small businesses in East Africa. The company recently raised $4 million to grow and expand internationally. This episode is sponsored by Matchcraft.

This episode features a conversation about earned wage access with SmartWave CEO Simon Ellis. EWA is an increasingly common tool that gives employees access to wages before payday, usually for a small fee. EWA platforms are popping up all across Africa, where the need is acute. By some measures, nearly 80% of lower-wage workers in South Africa run out of money before payday, leaving them vulnerable to payday lenders. Simon walks us through the business model, detailing both its challenges and opportunities.

Mohamed Al Fayed is co-founder and CEO of grubtech company that is emerging as a key infrastructure player in the UAE’s exploding ghost kitchen scene.Grubtech has built an operating system to address the friction points arising from running a high-volume food delivery business.

Tori Samples is co-founder and CTO of Leaf Global Fintech, a company based in East Africa that offers a blockchain-based digital wallet for refugees and migrant workers. The podcast focuses on whether a mission-driven business can also be a scalable fintech. And why blockchain can transform the African small business fintech space. Note: The interview with Tori begins at the 6:45 mark.

This episode features Firas Ahmad, /CEO of AxamPay, an East African fintech that is a division of Azam Group, the East African conglomerate. Firas is a thought leader on African fintech in addition to running a payments platform. His view that mobile money is not sufficiently innovative forms the nucleus of our conversation.

Katharine Budd and her business partner Ian Dillon spotted a huge underserved community in the Gulf Region. The millions of lower-wage migrant workers are largely unbanked and send billions of dollars back to their families in their countries of origin. NOW Money has created a digital banking solution, including remittances. for this population. The TAM is huge, but so are the challenges facing this business model.

We engage Zapper CEO Brett White on the stage of small business in South Africa one year into the pandemic. We also discuss innovation, fintechs vs banks, and the technologies that will drive the payments space in the years to come.

Lauren Kagori works with Pezesha, a financial inclusion platform in East Africa that is trying to solve to problem of poor access to capital for small businesses through crowdfunding.

Flutterwave's head of global partnerships chats with the BIG5D Podcast about her company's meteoric rise to become of just a few tech unicorns in Africa. Among the topics covered include Flutterwave's $170 million Series C round, its new deal with PayPal, and the complexities of simplifying payments in Africa.

Dana Buys is a longtime software entrepreneur who had a vision for creating a technology that allows restaurant owners to manage their businesses through a mobile device. Cloudone's TallOrder point of sale solution is designed for a mobile-first present and self-service future in the retail, dining, and hospitality industries. His company's newest product VerPay, adds a needed trust layer to take payments over a voice call. This episode also features a discussion of the battered state of South Africa's hospitality industry in the wake of the pandemic and how the industry will change permanently in the future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ctlaughlin.substack.com/subscribe