Human Development
Aselaa
Learning, career and workforce platforms.
A BAPEX Innovation Group company
Creating, funding and
scaling AI in Africa.
Bapex Ventures identifies transformative opportunities, incubates innovative ventures, invests in high-potential founders, and accelerates the commercialization of AI-driven businesses.
The venture development lifecycle
- 01Discover Research emerging market opportunities.
- 02Validate Confirm customer demand and commercial viability.
- 03Incubate Develop the product, assemble the team, and test the business model.
- 04Launch Formally establish and introduce the venture to the market.
- 05Scale Expand into new sectors and geographies.
- 06Exit or Hold Retain ownership for long-term value, or pursue an exit.
The model
Four roles rather than one.
Rather than operating like a traditional investment company, Bapex Ventures performs four complementary roles across the same pipeline.
01
Venture Builder
Creates businesses from ideas generated inside the group. The Research Lab develops a new AI technology, Bapex AI Solutions builds the MVP, and Bapex Ventures establishes it as a standalone company.
- Opportunity identification and market validation
- Business model design and customer discovery
- Company formation and founding team recruitment
- Initial funding, governance setup and launch support
02
Venture Capital
Invests in promising startups across AI and the sectors it reaches, from pre-seed through Series A.
- Investor engagement, fundraising and due diligence
- Investment committees and syndication
- Portfolio reporting and capital allocation
- Family office and development finance partnerships
03
Commercialization Platform
Bridges the gap between invention and market adoption, so research does not stop at a working prototype.
- Product commercialization and licensing
- Spin-offs and technology transfer
- Go-to-market planning and channel partnerships
- Revenue strategy
04
Growth Accelerator
Supports more mature startups that are ready to scale beyond their first market.
- Growth strategy and international expansion
- Enterprise sales and corporate partnerships
- Investor readiness and leadership coaching
- Operational excellence and scale-up planning
Portfolio
Five ventures inside the group.
The portfolio the venture studio builds around, across the sectors the model reaches.
Enterprise AI
StrataMind
Enterprise AI agents and decision intelligence.
Enterprise AI
K-Auth
Identity and access for knowledge systems.
Enterprise AI
KnowledgeHub
Capturing and leveraging institutional knowledge.
Industrial AI
ProjectMind
Construction, energy and mining intelligence.
Where the studio builds next
What it does
Nine areas of work, under the four roles.
The four roles above are the shape. These are the activities underneath them, grouped by the role each one belongs to.
01
Venture Builder
Making companies that did not exist before.
Venture Studio
Rather than waiting for entrepreneurs to arrive, the studio creates companies internally, against sectors where the group already holds knowledge.
Company directions
- AI Healthcare and AI Education
- AI Agriculture and AI Mining
- AI Cybersecurity and AI Logistics
- AI Climate and AI Energy
Startup Incubation
Helping early-stage startups mature into businesses that can raise and sell.
Activities
- Incubation programmes and business mentoring
- Product strategy and technical advisory
- Financial planning and legal structuring
- Brand development and sales strategy
- Partnership development
Outputs
- Investment-ready startups
- Revenue-generating businesses
- High-growth ventures
Corporate Innovation
Many large organisations want to innovate but do not know how. Bapex Ventures helps them build ventures inside their own walls.
Services
- Venture building and corporate incubators
- Innovation programmes and open innovation
- Innovation challenges
- Innovation governance
02
Venture Capital
Putting capital in, and staying in the room afterwards.
Investor Relations
The work of raising and reporting, kept separate from the work of building.
Activities
- Investor engagement and fundraising
- Due diligence and investment committees
- Portfolio reporting and syndication
- Family office partnerships
- Development finance engagement
Portfolio Management
Every venture is managed after investment, not only before it.
Activities
- Board representation and governance
- Performance monitoring and KPI tracking
- Risk management
- Capital allocation and exit planning
Exit & Wealth Creation
The goal is not only to build companies. It is to create long-term value, which means knowing in advance how that value is realised.
Exit options
- Acquisition and strategic sale
- IPO
- Management buyout
- Licensing
- International expansion
03
Growth Accelerator
Taking a company that works and making it bigger.
Accelerator Programme
Support for more mature startups that are ready to scale.
Services
- Growth strategy and international expansion
- Enterprise sales and corporate partnerships
- Investor readiness
- Leadership coaching
- Operational excellence and scale-up planning
Mergers, Acquisitions & Strategic Partnerships
Growth bought as well as built.
Activities
- Startup acquisitions
- Joint ventures
- Technology partnerships
- Strategic alliances
- Market expansion partnerships
04
Commercialization Platform
Getting an invention out of the lab and into a market.
Commercialization Office
The bridge between invention and market adoption.
Activities
- Product commercialization and licensing
- Spin-offs and technology transfer
- Go-to-market planning
- Channel partnerships and revenue strategy
Investment
Where the capital goes.
The investment mandate: the sectors Bapex Ventures backs, and the stages it comes in at.
Sectors
Stages
The fund
The Bapex AI & Knowledge Innovation Fund.
A fund for African AI companies.
The fund backs African AI companies, and is the long-term vehicle behind the investment mandate. It is aimed at institutional capital that wants exposure to the continent’s AI economy.
Investors it is aimed at
- Development Finance Institutions
- Sovereign Wealth Funds
- Pension Funds
- Family Offices
- Corporate Investors
- International Development Partners
Contact
Bapex Ventures.
If you are building an AI company in Africa, backing one, or looking for a partner to build one inside your own organisation, tell us which and we will come back with the shortest route to it.
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Office
Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
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Group
A BAPEX Innovation Group company