IMAGE: Boum (left) and Anthony; co-founders, daba
- Inside Daba’s plan to become the one-stop-shop for diasporans looking to invest in Africa.
Diaspora remittance flows to Africa in 2021 were valued at $45 billion, per World Bank data. If remittances alone were a stock exchange, it would be the 6th largest capitalized bourse in Africa. More so, that figure is nine times the size of venture capital (∼$5 billion) poured into the continent last year.
Startup funding in Africa and foreign portfolio investments might be growing year on year but they still pale in comparison to remittances. Plus, there’s a relatively limited capital available to early-stage startups on the continent while public markets lack significant retail participation.
What if there could be a way to channel this diaspora wealth (most of which is spent on consumption purposes) to founders of private startups seeking funding and stock exchanges on the continent?
Introducing daba
Currently in beta, daba offers investors a single, consolidated platform with the tools to invest in opportunities vetted and approved by the company’s in-house investment team. At the other end of the spectrum, capital seekers (from early-stage to growth-stage startups) can raise funding, build community, and secure alternative financing options, all through the platform.
“We’ve identified a steep chasm between the financing needs of African startups and potential investors looking for promising investment opportunities,” said Boum III Jr, a co-founder of the startup alongside Anthony Miclet. “Our platform serves as an infrastructure to bridge this gap, making it relatively easier for African companies to access capital and investors to find these companies.”
The ultimate vision for daba is to become an end-to-end solution for investors interested in Africa, providing resources from pre-investment intelligence, trade execution, and capital deployment, to portfolio tracking and management across multiple asset classes and securities, in both private and public markets.
“After spending several months researching, we realized that the problem of retail investor participation in Africa also exists in public markets,” Boum said. “Today, the class of investors that dominate both private and public markets are institutional with minimal individual representation.”
Given the sheer size of remittance flows, Africans in the diaspora are part of the group of potential investors daba is targeting, to enable startups and public markets to tap into this diaspora wealth through its platform.
“The goal is to democratize investing in public and private African capital markets, knowing that the current state of investing is disjointed and intimidating for many interested and able investors,” Anthony said. “With $50, anyone can invest through daba.”
Founders’ profile
Boum is an entrepreneur who considers himself an aspiring agent of positive transformation, betterment, and empowerment driven by his passion for Africa. Prior to coming to the US to complete his BSC in Computer Science, Boum lived in Cameroon for 14 years. He has a knack for challenges at the intersection of finance, technology, and impact.
He worked at eVestment/Nasdaq for close to 5 years and holds an MBA in strategic management, entrepreneurship, and innovation from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He co-founded Afrika Startup Lab – a nonprofit whose mission is to empower entrepreneurs to build brighter African futures.
Meanwhile, Anthony is a mission-driven entrepreneur very passionate about Africa. He is a University of Miami alumni who holds a bachelor’s in economics, and political science along with his MBA with a concentration in Business Technology.
Anthony spent his childhood in Angola, The Republic of Congo, and South Africa before coming to the US. He is a seasoned product manager with experience working for multinational firms such as Coca-Cola, and Salvatore Ferragamo. He also co-founded Afrika Startup Lab, which boasts a community of over 800 entrepreneurs across 10 African countries.
Content, including image provided by: daba
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