Delta40 Venture Studio

Can solar power solve Nigeria's energy crisis? Fuel generators have powered Nigeria for decades. They're noisy, dirty, and bad for the environment. But they also provide power to millions of people in a country with an unreliable grid. The removal of Nigeria's long-standing fuel subsidy in 2023 caused the price of fuel to quadruple, leaving Nigerian consumers searching for options. And many are going solar. So while economic considerations have largely driven Nigeria's transition to solar power, it has positive climate implications too. But why is the grid so broken in the first place? How can it be fixed? And is decentralized solar energy an adequate solution to solve Nigeria's energy crisis? In today’s episode of The Flip, we’re exploring Nigeria's newfound energy transition. Featuring: Bimbola Adisa - Founder & CEO, Beacon Power Services Rotimi Thomas - Co-founder & CEO, SunFi Chidalu Onyenso - Founder & CEO, Earthbond This episode was produced as part of our series on climate action in Africa, The Greenprint, in partnership with Catalyst Fund, Delta40 Venture Studio, and Africa Climate Ventures. I've left the link to the full episode in the comments below ????

One of my core beliefs is that ?????????????????? ?????????? ??????????????????. Startups are often recognized for their visionary Founders, but experience has taught me that the real magic lies in execution. ??????, ?????????????????? ??????????????. They are the builders who take bold visions and turn them into actionable, impactful, scalable, and investable companies. They are the driving force that take a simple conversation or deck into a living organization that improves livelihoods and changes life trajectories. Until Founders find excellent operators, their dream is just that, a dream. No company can scale without strong operators. I read this brilliant Tech Safari piece https://lnkd.in/dwBUpDeA that highlights the power of operators in the startup ecosystem. In it, Caleb Maru tells the stories of Hasan Luongo (Chipper Cash), Opemipo Aikomo (Paystack), Careem and many other operators who have built and scaled some of Africa’s biggest companies. I resonated deeply with these doers, because at some point I also became an operator who brought the vision of a world-class African University (and several other entities) to life. And to date, I have deep respect for our founding team at The African Leadership University. We’ve seen the same at Delta40 Venture Studio. The operators in our ecosystem have moved on to become founders, scale ventures, and reach exits because they have mastered the art of venture building. Lyndsay Holley Handler and I believe in operators because we have seen their value first hand-– for me, with African Leadership Group, and for Lyndsay with Fenix (the company she built that has produced over 30 Founders!) Our #1 goal now is to empower ventures in our portfolio with that same capacity to execute and scale. So when we say we’re ???? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???? ?????? ???????????????????? ???? ????????????, we mean it. We are a team of experienced Founders and Operators that go deep into the trenches with our ventures to drive sales & product development, marketing &?fundraising, legal, finance, and most importantly, finding great talent –– ?????????????? ????????’?? ???????? ???? ?????????? ???? ?????????? ?????????????????? ??????????????????.

Farming is the #1 source of employment on the continent. Yet Africa’s agricultural productivity is the lowest of any region in the world. Nothing will impact more lives in Africa than a more productive agriculture sector. The opportunity is immense—60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is on the continent—but the problems facing rural communities are also immense. Globally, we are losing 13 million hectares of farmland to desertification every year - that’s the size of Greece! In Morocco, it's causing century-old oases to disappear. In Kenya, the government subsidizes fertilizer to increase its utilization on farms, but the importation of cheap, synthetic fertilizer degrades the soil even further. Post-harvest loss is also a huge problem across the continent. Up to 40% of harvests don’t reach the market due to a lack of cold chain infrastructure, poor roads, and other factors. These problems are not only preventing Africa from reaching its farming potential, but they harm rural livelihoods. African cities are experiencing some of the largest rates of urbanization as people flee the rural areas in search of more sustainable work. In our latest episode of The Greenprint, The Flip’s series climate action and economic development on the continent, we meet the founders who are solving these problems and trying to make their communities a better and more prosperous place to live. Wissal Ben Moussa is the Co-founder & R&D Officer of Sand to Green, a Moroccan startup pairing regenerative agroforestry techniques with data and technology to turn the desert green. Samuel Rigu is the Co-founder & CEO of Safi Organics Ltd., a Kenyan company employing a decentralized process to locally manufacture organic fertilizers. Francis N. is the Founder of Keep IT Cool | Earthshot Prize Winner 24, a recent The Earthshot Prize winner, building cold chain storage to reduce post-harvest losses in Kenya. This episode was produced as part of our series on climate action in Africa, The Greenprint, in partnership with Catalyst Fund, Delta40 Venture Studio, Africa Climate Ventures, and Agbase - an initiative of Briter and Mercy Corps AgriFin. Watch the full episode of The Greenprint using the link in the comments below ??

Farm to Feed is hiring an Director of Engineering! Are you a hands-on tech leader with deep understanding of software engineering, network architecture, and latest technologies? And are you keen to leverage your skills to create more sustainable supply chains? We are looking for you! https://lnkd.in/dCeUhTQT Claire van Enk Zara Benosa #Hiring #Techleader #Foodloss #Kenya

We're doubling down at Delta40 Venture Studio. Despite the hasty shutdown of USAID and incoherent proclamations about the work we do every day in Africa, Delta40 Venture Studio will continue to invest in and support entrepreneurs in this strategic market: ?? Delta40 will continue to invest equity in innovative ventures in Africa. ?? Delta40 will continue to provide hands-on venture studio support from a team of experienced operators to help these ventures grow. ?? Delta40 will run innovation programs to help the next generation of entrepreneurs build new transformational products & services. ?? Delta40 will run ecosystem programs to foster collaboration between investors, founders, philanthropists, and policy leaders that unlock capital, scale, exits, returns, and impact across Africa. ?? Delta40 leadership will launch a new series of videocasts, podcasts, and articles called “In the Arena” where we will spotlight innovative entrepreneurs across Africa, opportunities to invest in these ventures, as well as insights, challenges, and new ideas for deep discussion. I have been relatively quiet on LinkedIn and social media for the past few years, but I have decided to write more in 2025 to share, celebrate, and reflect on the work the Delta40 Team and Founders do every day on the ground in Africa.? Seeing two of the wealthiest and most powerful people on Earth put an organization like USAID “into the woodchipper” just deepens my conviction in and commitment to our mission at Delta40 (not to mention Elon's net worth went up by more than the entire budget of USAID). I have worked closely with the US Government in Africa for the past 15 years and can say firsthand that USAID *invests* a mere 1% of the US budget into activities that reduce poverty, improve global health systems, improve our national security, and support US companies abroad. Are there opportunities to improve the efficiency and speed of USAID? Yes. But is this a reason to shut it all down on a whim? No. We are interconnected and will need to collaborate as a global community to ensure prosperity, planetary health, and peace for our children.? To all of the 10,000 American jobs destroyed and families uprooted without a thoughtful plan, thank you for all you did for our country and planet. There are many tailwinds and big opportunities in these times. Many of the most innovative companies today were built out of bear markets or crises and I see them all around us today. While a few people try to overwhelm and distract us with a lot of hype, let’s continue to focus on building ventures that solve problems and improve lives, leading the way we want to be led, and investing in our local communities. To the Delta40 Founders - you have one of the hardest jobs in the world, but we need you more than ever. We are here In the Arena with you and ready to build. The Delta40 Team?