VOA Tests Six-Month, Revenue-Focused Path to Startup Investment

VOA Venture Partners is testing a hands-on approach to startup evaluation through a programme that places the venture firm alongside companies for about six months before any separate decision on fund investment.

Victoria Olayide Adesanya, who explained the firm’s strategy, said VOA Build works with post-revenue startups that have paying customers and a clear opportunity for the firm to add value. During the programme, VOA acts as an additional go-to-market strategist while focusing on helping the company build sustainable revenue.

“There is no investment during those six months, and the only focus is building sustainable revenue,” Adesanya said.

Investment thesis

VOA Venture Partners focuses on financial infrastructure and solutions aimed at addressing barriers to capital moving into and out of Africa. Adesanya said the firm’s research into those barriers took between one and two years before it defined a five-pillar framework.

The framework covers market fragmentation; regulatory and compliance challenges; technology and infrastructure gaps; financial inclusion and the informal economy; and cybersecurity and fraud risk.

Adesanya said the firm focuses on African and African diaspora founders. She also said those founders receive less than 2% of global venture funding, a figure she cited while explaining VOA’s investment focus.

Separate from fund investment

Participation in VOA Build does not automatically lead to an investment from VOA’s fund. Adesanya said any fund investment is considered separately from a company’s involvement in the programme.

Under the programme’s structure, VOA receives revenue participation linked to commercial opportunities it helps create or advance, along with a small equity stake that vests over the engagement. The specific percentages were not disclosed.

Companies can also raise money from other investors while they remain in VOA Build, according to Adesanya. She said VOA piloted the programme with a handful of carefully selected companies in 2026, although the exact number of participating startups was not provided.

The approach is intended to give VOA a view of how companies operate beyond conventional due diligence. Direct work with founders allows the firm to observe execution, behaviour, decision-making and commercial outcomes.

“We get to see how the startup really operates, and we help it scale,” Adesanya said.

She said the pilot reinforced the importance of execution in evaluating young companies. “A strong product or an attractive market does not mean a team can execute consistently,” she said, adding that behaviour provides information traditional due diligence may not reveal.

Companies and market gaps

Adesanya cited Blockradar and REasy as examples of companies aligned with VOA’s focus. Blockradar provides APIs that allow fintechs to offer stablecoin wallets without hiring blockchain engineers.

REasy initially focuses on Francophone Africa, helping small businesses manage payments and logistics for global trade involving markets such as China and Dubai.

Adesanya described African financial infrastructure as an underdeveloped market with significant gaps, particularly in business-to-business services. She also pointed to a tougher fundraising environment, citing Africa: The Big Deal’s report that the number of African startups raising between $100,000 and $1 million fell by 44% in the first half of 2026.

For early-stage founders, she advised prioritising customer understanding, products that customers value and progress made with available resources rather than treating fundraising as the main objective.

“The name of the game is staying in the game. Do not make raising money your north star,” Adesanya said.

Cybersecurity opportunity

VOA is still looking for a company to back in cybersecurity and fraud risk. Adesanya said the firm is seeking founders with deep domain expertise, an understanding of fraud and cybersecurity across several African markets, and local knowledge and networks.

She cautioned that broad cybersecurity offerings can push companies towards consultancy work and make it harder to build scalable products. VOA’s wider objective, she said, is to help build sustainable businesses and ecosystems while maintaining relationships with grant and debt providers.