4DX Ventures, one of Africa’s leading early-stage venture capital firms, has appointed two high-profile executives as Senior Advisors as it sharpens its global strategy and eyes new investment frontiers. Former Mastercard and U.S. development finance executive Mimi Alemayehou, and hedge fund veteran Kurankye Sekyi-Otu, will join the Accra-headquartered firm at a time of growing global investor interest in Africa’s tech sector.
The appointments are a strategic move as 4DX Ventures looks to expand its footprint beyond seed-stage investing and deepen its global institutional relationships. The firm, which has backed African unicorns including Flutterwave and Andela, is positioning itself to not only source capital internationally but also guide African startups into global markets.
“The appointment of Mimi and Kurankye comes at a pivotal time for 4DX and our portfolio,” said Walter Baddoo, co-founder and managing partner at 4DX. “Both bring a global perspective and operational depth that will be instrumental as more African tech companies scale internationally.”
A Global Push for African Innovation
Alemayehou, a former Executive Vice President at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (now DFC), previously held senior roles at Mastercard and the African Development Bank. She also served as a board member at Twitter and chaired Blackstone Africa Infrastructure LP. Her experience, which spans global development, technology, and policy, is expected to help 4DX and its portfolio companies better navigate international regulatory and capital environments.
“I’m energised to bring my experience in development finance, technology, and policy to help scale innovation and deepen partnerships across sectors,” said Alemayehou in a statement.
Sekyi-Otu, formerly Chief Strategy Officer at Polar Asset Management — one of Canada’s largest hedge funds — is the founder of Capoeira Partners, a strategy advisory firm working with founder-led asset managers. With a background in alternative investments and capital formation, he will focus on strengthening 4DX’s institutional relationships and supporting operational execution within portfolio companies.
“Our immediate focus is to deliver deep operational insight that drives meaningful execution as 4DX scales,” said Sekyi-Otu.
Founded in 2017 by Walter Baddoo and Peter Orth, 4DX has grown into one of the continent’s most active early-stage tech investors. The firm has raised three institutionally backed funds and manages approximately $200 million in assets. In 2024, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) committed $10.5 million to 4DX’s latest fund — an endorsement that underscored the firm’s growing credibility among global development finance institutions.
4DX’s portfolio spans fintech, e-commerce, embedded finance, edtech, marketplaces, and climate-tech. Its portfolio includes companies like Autochek, MaxAB, Breadfast, Thndr, Yoco, and mPharma, with operations in 22 African countries. The firm maintains regional offices in Accra, Cairo, and Nairobi, and has an active presence in South Africa and Francophone Africa.
4DX’s value creation approach is formalised through 4DX Labs, its internal platform that supports startups with product strategy, marketing, engineering, data science, and fundraising. The platform has helped facilitate several high-profile transactions, including the merger of MaxAB and Wasoko — reportedly Africa’s largest tech merger to date — as well as Swarm Technologies’ acquisition by SpaceX and Tactyc’s acquisition by Carta.
With the addition of Alemayehou and Sekyi-Otu, 4DX is expected to take a more expansive approach to deal sourcing and strategic advisory, particularly in sectors like the creative economy and later-stage growth capital — areas where African startups are seeing increasing traction and global interest.
The appointments also reflect a broader shift among African VC firms to build deeper global connectivity in order to support startups with not just capital, but also the strategic relationships needed to expand across borders.
As African innovation continues to attract attention from global investors, 4DX’s next chapter will likely be defined by how effectively it can bridge African entrepreneurial talent with global markets — and whether new advisors like Alemayehou and Sekyi-Otu can help deliver on that promise.