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Dr Ola Brown shared thisA container ship signaling French ownership has exited the Strait of Hormuz, in what appears to be the first known transit by a Western Europe-linked vessel since the war all but shuttered the waterway (Bloomberg). In my 2026 outlook, one of the themes I spoke about was “side questing”, countries increasingly doing deals directly with each other rather than relying on large coalitions. This could be another early sign of that. Watch the full video for the rest of the predictions here: https://lnkd.in/e6aGajM9
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Dr Ola Brown reposted thisDr Ola Brown reposted this20 years of teamwork, captured in moments. Smiles. Laughter. Moments captured. As dbrownconsulting steps into its 20th year, we paused to celebrate the people who make every milestone possible. These snapshots are a glimpse into the energy, camaraderie, and connections that define our team. Here’s to the people behind the work, and the memories we create along the way 🥂 #dbrownconsulting #20Years #teammoments #workculture
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Dr Ola Brown shared this"Until you find a repeatable, scalable model stay tiny and cheap." — Naval Ravikant
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Dr Ola Brown reposted thisDr Ola Brown reposted thisToday, we officially closed our latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital at a post money valuation of $852 billion. It’s a historic number. But for me, what matters more is what it represents. We’re building the core infrastructure for AI, making it possible for anyone, anywhere, to build. From individuals to the smallest business to the largest enterprise, this is about putting powerful tools into more hands and seeing what people create with them. That ambition only works because of the partners who believe in it alongside us. This round was anchored by strategic partners Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank Group Corp., with continued support from Microsoft. SoftBank Group Corp. co-led alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, TPG, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. There’s deep conviction here across global capital, and what excites me most is how that conviction allows us to widen access. Our mission is to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, and that means expanding who can use it and who can participate in the value it creates. Through inclusion in ARK ETFs and broader distribution channels, more people now have a path to both build with AI and share in its long-term upside. OpenAI was the fastest technology platform to reach 10 million users, the fastest to 100 million users, and soon the fastest to one billion weekly active users. Within a year of launching ChatGPT, we reached $1B in revenue. By the end of 2024 we were generating $1B per quarter. We are now generating $2B in revenue per month. At the same time, our Leadership across consumer and enterprise is accelerating: ➡️ ChatGPT has 6x the monthly web visits and mobile sessions than the next largest AI app, while total AI time spent is 4x the next largest AI app and 4x all others combined. ➡️ Our APIs now process 15B+ tokens per minute, and Codex serves more than 2M weekly users, up 5x in the past three months. Enterprise now makes up more than 40% of our revenue, and is on track to reach parity with consumer by the end of 2026. Underpinning all of this is compute. It’s easy to talk about models and products, but compute is the engine behind it all. It’s what allows us to build better systems, move faster, and reach more people. With this funding, we can invest at the scale needed to deliver intelligence more efficiently to consumers, to enterprises, and to builders everywhere. That’s the part that keeps me energized. Not just what we build, but what others will build on top of it. Looking ahead, we’re building an AI superapp - bringing ChatGPT, Codex, and agents into one place. Why it matters? This is how AI becomes truly useful. Over time, that value will flow back into the economy, to companies, to communities, and increasingly to individuals. Let’s go build! https://lnkd.in/gC_iXPDkOpenAI raises $122 billion to accelerate the next phase of AIOpenAI raises $122 billion to accelerate the next phase of AI
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Dr Ola Brown reposted thisDr Ola Brown reposted thisFollowing our first session on Rethinking Venture Capital in Africa, this week’s Oxford AVFP alumni discussion went deeper into one model: permanent capital vehicles. Led by Bas Hochstenbach, the session took the form of an open Q&A—creating space for a practical, candid look at how evergreen structures actually work. We explored: • What permanent/evergreen funds look like in practice • How to balance flexibility with investor liquidity expectations • Mechanisms like secondaries and periodic revaluations in illiquid markets • How capital deployment shifts without a fixed fund lifecycle Using E4E Africa’s HoldCo structure as a live case study, key takeaways included how evergreen vehicles can: • Remove pressure for time-bound exits • Align capital deployment with opportunity—not fund cycles • Support companies across multiple rounds and longer growth paths • Introduce alternative liquidity pathways alongside traditional exits A clear theme emerged (and echoed from our first session): fund structures must adapt to market realities, especially in ecosystems with longer exit timelines and constrained capital. Thanks to everyone who contributed so openly. Next week, we continue the AVFP Discussion Series with Tidjane Deme and Dr Ola Brown, exploring recent shifts in the African VC landscape - from capital flows and FX dynamics to broader geopolitical factors. Drawing on insights from the latest Partech report, the session will focus on separating signal from noise in today’s market. The Africa Venture Finance Programme (AVFP) at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford - an initiative of the European Investment Bank (EIB), in partnership with KfW/DEG Impact and implemented by Adam Smith International - has, since 2022, graduated 160 African VC fund managers across four cohorts.
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Dr Ola Brown shared thisExcited to be in Tangier, Morocco, for a high-level side event at the Conference of African Ministers of Finance 2026. We are at a defining moment for healthcare financing on the continent. With the withdrawal of USAID and shifting donor priorities, the urgency to develop sustainable, independent fiscal strategies has never been higher. At HealthCap Africa, we are one of the few firms on the continent focused on financing early-stage healthcare and tech businesses across Africa. We believe regional transformation depends on our ability to move beyond traditional aid cycles. To date, we have financed 20 companies with operations in over 10 countries, serving more than 2 million patients and creating over 1,000 jobs. True resilience comes from mobilizing private capital into healthcare infrastructure and venture building systems that are high-agency, profitable, and durable. I’m looking forward to discussing how we can bridge this funding gap and ensure healthcare remains a cornerstone of Africa’s economic growth.
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Dr Ola Brown shared thisWas great connecting with so many innovators and investors at FII Priority Miami this week. During my interview, I was asked to identify the defining trends shaping the current landscape. A central theme was the expanding role of private market investment a shift that is fundamentally altering how we approach growth and sustainability in emerging markets. I’ve explored the mechanics of this shift and its broader implications for the coming year in my 2026 Economic Outlook. You can find the link to the full report in the comments.
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Dr Ola Brown reposted thisDr Ola Brown reposted thisI’m delighted to share that I have been appointed as the new President and head of Council of the Learning and Development Network International (LDNI), following the leadership transition announced at our Annual General Meeting two weeks ago. I’m grateful to Olumide Ajomale FCA. FITD. LDM. for his dedication, service, and the work he has done to strengthen the organisation. Thank you, Olumide, for setting a solid foundation to build on. As LDNI enters this new chapter, I’m excited about what we can accomplish together, especially around digitisation, strengthening our learning ecosystem, and helping members build capability that is relevant for today’s realities. Looking forward to serving, collaborating, and contributing meaningfully to the growth of each member of our network as we grow the wider community as talent professionals. #LDNI #LearningAndDevelopment #Leadership #Digitisation #ProfessionalDevelopment
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Dr Ola Brown reposted thisDr Ola Brown reposted thisSix acquisitions. One quarter. All by African companies. Q1 2026 has been the most active M&A quarter in African tech, and it deserves to be read as a single story. 1. Flutterwave → Mono $25-40m all-stock deal. Flutterwave bought the open banking infrastructure it was already depending on. Mono connected millions of African bank accounts via API, quietly powering identity and credit scoring across the ecosystem. Now that data layer is inside Flutterwave permanently. 2. Paystack → Ladder MFB After a decade processing payments for 300,000+ businesses, Paystack bought a banking licence. Rebranded as Paystack MFB. Direct deposits. Lending. Capabilities no payment processor can access without one. 3. Moniepoint → Orda Nigeria's leading restaurant management platform folded into Moniebook. Moniepoint already processed billions daily at restaurants. Orda powered the order management side. The acquisition closes a reconciliation gap both sides were navigating every day. 4. Andela → Woven A technical assessment platform to identify AI-native engineers. Not just coders builders and integrators of AI systems. The talent war is shifting and Andela is positioning ahead of it. 5. Trove → Innova Securities Trove stopped renting a brokerage licence and bought one. UCML Securities, formerly Union Bank's brokerage arm. Now fully owned by Trove. 6. Izili → Qotto Off-grid solar consolidation in Francophone West Africa. Expanding to Benin and Burkina Faso, targeting 170,000+ solar solutions by 2028. Look at what is being bought across all six deals: a banking licence. A data layer. A broker-dealer. An AI assessment engine. Solar distribution. Restaurant operating infrastructure. These are not acqui-hires. These are African companies buying the infrastructure layer beneath their existing products, regulatory assets, data moats, and distribution networks that are expensive to build and hard to replicate. In 2025, Africa saw 60+ exits, up 43% from 2024. Most didn't make headlines. But the pattern they reveal is consistent: startups building rails for other startups to grow on. Companies are teaming up, bigger companies are absorbing smaller ones, and liquidity is being created. The real pain point for investors in Africa has never been deployment. It has been liquidity. Secondary transactions now comprise 30% of exits, up from 15% a decade ago. Consolidation like this is how that number keeps growing. This is what ecosystem maturity looks like from the inside. Not a regulator-led consolidation. Not distress. Companies organically choosing to combine because the market has grown large enough to reward integration over independence. Image Tech Safari #AfricanTech #MergersAndAcquisitions #Startups #Fintech #Africa #Venture #Nigeria #Consolidation #StartupEcosystem
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Dr Ola Brown liked thisThis award around academic research as applied to societal challenges can help contribute to the overall impact investing ecosystemDr Ola Brown liked thisAnd the winner is..... We are delighted to announce the winners of the second edition of the AllianzGI Impact Research Award, recognising cutting-edge scientific work that advances understanding of society’s most pressing challenges. This year's Impact Research Award is presented to the NEMESIS research team from the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (Trimbos Institute), led by Margreet ten Have, senior researcher at the Department of Epidemiology. The winning team further includes Marlous Tuithof, Saskia van Dorsselaer, Simone Korteling, and Annemarie Luik. Trimbos Institute provides research, policy, and practice-based advice for professionals on mental health and substance use across the life course, and across the promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery spectrum. Congratulations! Read more ➡️https://ow.ly/q3rQ50YA0Xc
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