{
  "id": 12181053,
  "title": "Why VOA spends six months inside startups before deciding to invest",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/why-voa-spends-six-months-inside-startups-before-deciding-to-invest",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-05T15:43:58.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechCabal",
    "slug": "techcabal",
    "url": "https://techcabal.com/2026/10/05/why-voa-spends-six-months-inside-startups-before-deciding-to-invest/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Most investors evaluate a startup based on pitch presentations, several meetings, and a few weeks of research before deciding to invest. However, Victoria Olayide Adesanya, the founder of VOA Venture Partners, favors a different approach. She insists on immersing herself in the business for six months before making any financial commitment. VOA focuses on funding startups that develop financial infrastructure for Africa, particularly those led by individuals from the African diaspora. Adesanya believes that financial infrastructure, mostly business-to-business services, remains underserved despite the crowded fintech market. Two of VOA's portfolio companies demonstrate this focus: Blockradar allows fintechs to offer stablecoin wallets via API without hiring blockchain engineers, and REasy enables small businesses in Francophone Africa to pay suppliers in China and Dubai, managing shipping costs along the way. Adesanya, previously employed at Barclays and Credit Suisse and as an advisor to investment banks like Morgan Stanley, has dedicated more than a decade to finance. She piloted VOA Build, a program where VOA spends six months working inside a company without investing, aiming to grow revenue. In exchange, VOA receives a share of the revenue and a small equity stake that vests over time. Adesanya established this program to address the limited venture funding available for early-stage African startups, with the market for African startups raising between $100,000 and $1 million dropping by 44% in the first half of 2026. Adesanya explains that her motivations for starting VOA and adopting this unique approach, outlining the challenges faced by African businesses in accessing financial infrastructure and her goal to make Africa a significant player on the global economic stage.",
  "summary": "After backing Blockradar and REasy, VOA Venture Partners wants to invest in African fintechs that help move money in and outside the continent.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}