Press Kit

HEADLINE

Africa’s Bridge to Global Capital, But Only for the Right Founders
Host of The Grinders Table | Head of Investment, Launch Africa Ventures

Professional Bios

These are different bios you can use depending on purpose and length:

One line bio (50 words)

Uwem Uwemakpan bridges global capital with African innovation—but only for the right founders. With $200M+ deployed across 30+ startups, he identifies breakthrough African founders 12-18 months before they hit the mainstream. Host of The Grinders Table, profiling the continent’s most impactful innovators and their contrarian decision frameworks.

Short bio (100 words)

Uwem Uwemakpan serves as Africa’s bridge to global capital—connecting the right money with the right founders at the right time. As Head of Investment at Launch Africa Ventures, he’s deployed $200M+ across 30+ African startups that consistently secure major follow-on funding from tier-one global investors. His edge: identifying category-defining founders 12-18 months before their breakthrough moments. Through The Grinders Table podcast, he profiles the continent’s most impactful innovators, investors, and C-suite leaders—focusing on struggle-to-success narratives and contrarian decision frameworks, not polished unicorn stories. Previously VP Fund Operations at Ingressive Capital and scaling the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100M entrepreneurship program.

Medium Bio (250 words)

Uwem Uwemakpan occupies a rare position in Africa’s innovation ecosystem: trusted by both global capital and African founders. But he’s selective about who crosses the bridge.

As Head of Investment at Launch Africa Ventures, Uwem has deployed $200M+ across 30+ African startups that consistently secure major follow-on funding from tier-one global investors. His reputation is built on one thing—identifying breakthrough founders 12-18 months before they become industry darlings. This pattern recognition comes from over a decade navigating African markets, evaluating hundreds of founders, and understanding which startups will matter globally versus which won’t survive the hype cycle.

Before Launch Africa, Uwem served as VP Fund Operations at Ingressive Capital, managing $60M in AUM across a portfolio including Paystack, Mono, and SeamlessHR. Earlier, he scaled the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100M entrepreneurship program, exceeding its 10-year goal of supporting 10,000 entrepreneurs in just five years—cementing his reputation as a trusted ecosystem builder with deep founder relationships.

Beyond deal-making, Uwem amplifies African innovation through The Grinders Table podcast, where he profiles the continent’s most impactful innovators, investors, and C-suite leaders. Unlike typical founder content, the podcast focuses on struggle-to-success narratives and contrarian decision frameworks—the real patterns that separate sustainable builders from conference darlings.

Today, Uwem continues bridging the gap between global investors and African opportunities through strategic investments, thought leadership, and his expanding network of elite operators. He’s not selling every African startup to every investor. He’s translating African market reality for global capital—and only connecting those ready for each other.

WHY BOOK HIM

He Brings:
✦ The Bridge Perspective – Unique position between global capital and African innovation (not just theory – $200M+ proof)
✦ Founder-Quality Intelligence – How to identify elite operators before the market does
✦ Contrarian Market Insights – What actually works in emerging markets vs. what conferences sell
✦ Decision Frameworks – How top African founders think through pivots, scale, and market timing

Audiences Leave With:

• Specific frameworks for evaluating emerging market opportunities
• Understanding of what separates sustainable African builders from flash-in-the-pan stories
• Actionable approaches to cross-border investment and partnerships
• New perspectives on founder assessment, market timing, and risk evaluation

SPEAKING TOPICS

“Building Bridges That Actually Work: Connecting Global Capital with African Innovation”
Beyond the conference circuit—what it really takes to make cross-border investment successful. From deal sourcing to portfolio support.

“Africa’s $1T Opportunity: The Insider’s Guide for Global Investors”
No rose-colored glasses. No doom-and-gloom. Honest market intelligence from someone who’s deployed $200M+ and knows which patterns matter.

“Spotting Tomorrow’s Winners: How to Find Founders Before the Breakthrough”
The anti-hype approach to founder discovery. What to look for, what to ignore, and how to identify category-defining talent in their earliest stages.

“The Grinders, Not the Unicorns: What Success Actually Looks Like in Emerging Markets”
Beyond billion-dollar narratives—the real patterns that separate sustainable builders from conference darlings.

“Decision Frameworks from Africa’s Top Founders”
Insights from The Grinders Table: How elite operators navigate uncertainty, market challenges, and scale in complex environments.

Custom Topics Available – Uwem tailors content based on audience profile and event objectives.

SPEAKING STYLE

Conversational, not corporate. Evidence-based, not aspirational. Story-driven with frameworks you can actually use.

Uwem doesn’t do inspiration porn or generic Africa-rising narratives. He brings real insights from real operators—backed by a decade of pattern recognition across hundreds of founders and dozens of investments that actually worked.

CONTACT

Speaking Inquiries:
Email: assistant[@]uwemakpan.me
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/uwemuwemakpan

Social:
Twitter: @monsieuruwem
Instagram: @monsieuruwem