Mar 4, 2025 · 33m · the-pitch
#116 Kimoyo: Is This African Startup Venture Backable?
Maryam Braima · 13m spoken Josh Muccio · 6m spoken Martin Tobias · 4m spoken Erica Wenger · 2m spoken Jillian Manus · 1m spoken Charles Hudson · 19s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Former Netflix product designer Maryam Braima pitches Kimoyo Insights, an African user research platform, navigating rigorous investor debate over venture scalability, valuation multiples, and the systemic challenges of emerging market fundraising.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Josh holds 24.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Josh as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 4.6 Guest disagreement 2.1 Josh pushing back 3.3
speaking balance: gold is Josh, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 16:21 Maryam challenges Jillian's portfolio failure rationale
Maryam directly pushes back against Jillian's hesitation by highlighting that one out of six investments being a unicorn is actually an enviable venture success rate.
Hardest push from Josh ▶ 12:54 Martin rejects the tech thesis and passesMartin rejects the founder's software framing, categorizing Kimoyo as a people-renting services business that will take too long to reach a venture-scale exit.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:08 Macroeconomic data drop on African growthWhen questioned if Africa is big enough to build a $100M ARR company, Maryam reels off rapid-fire demographic, GDP growth, and CPG profitability statistics.
Josh holds their own ▶ 18:30 Martin's financial valuation breakdownMartin rigorously details the mechanics of private equity EBITDA valuation multiples for consulting businesses versus venture-scale revenue multiples for SaaS.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Josh as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Josh pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryam's Opening Pitch for Kimoyo Insights | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Maryam delivers a confident pitch outlining the African market research problem, citing her lead product designer experience at Netflix and Kimoyo's early traction. | |
| Platform Technology and Participant Qualification | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Investors ask foundational questions about Kimoyo's technology and participant compensation. Maryam details their three-step vetting process and 70% gross margins. | |
| Customer Traction, Contract Sizing, and Round Progress | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Erica pushes on defensibility against tech clones. Maryam educates the room on Kimoyo's data moat based on proprietary models trained on local dialects and colloquialisms. | |
| Valuation Comparables and African Market Potential | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | Martin challenges market sizing and business model valuation multiples before passing. Maryam delivers a comprehensive macro data drop on Africa's youth demographics and GDP growth, then challenges Jillian's venture failure math. | |
| Post-Pitch Discussion: Local Capital and Syndication | 7 | 2 | 0 | 6 | The investors analyze the pitch post-exit, with Martin breaking down EBITDA multiples for people-rental service companies versus SaaS multiples, explaining why venture economics broke down. | |
| Mid-Show Break and Interview Teaser | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Josh and Maryam hold a relaxed post-show debrief discussing her intentional pause in fundraising and how playing hard to get triggered inbound interest from African investors. | |
| Follow-Up: Platform Evolution and Enterprise Tools | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Josh translates Martin's core objection regarding human scalability, prompting Maryam to explain Kimoyo's new software subscription product for managing in-house participants. | |
| Follow-Up: The Double Standard of Investing in Africa | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | Maryam discusses the double standard African founders face in venture capital, noting how a 1-in-6 portfolio hit rate with Flutterwave constitutes outstanding venture returns. |
Statements from this episode (28)
Braima: Companies spend $2.2B annually on research in Africa
“Companies are spending an annual 2.2 billion dollars on research. In Africa.”
Kimoyo generated $115k in revenue with 11k private beta participants
“Since launching last year, we have over 11,000 participants in our private beta and have generated a 115,000 in revenue, supporting companies like Microsoft and Flutterwave.”
Kimoyo is raising a $1 million pre-seed round
“We are raising a one million dollar pre-seed to automate the entire research workflow.”
Braima: Kimoyo Acts as Logistics Intermediary Rather Than Hosting Research
“Right now, we are more like that logistics intermediary. The actual research does not happen on our platform, just to start.”
Kimoyo Targets Five African Markets, Plans Expansion Into CPG
“Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa are markets that we're targeting just now, but have, we want to break into consumer packaged goods. That's actually like our longer term play.”
Braima: Kimoyo charges $100 to $150 per participant at 70% margins
“So typically where we typically charge around a hundred to a 150 dollars per participant yielding a 70% profit margin.”
Braima: Flutterwave signed a $75,000 annual contract with Kimoyo
“Flutterwave is actually the first trial where we've had with that. We are officially their African research provider on a yearly contract. With Flutterwave, it's 75,000”
Braima: Kimoyo has raised about $300,000, or 30% of its round
“We have raised 30% of our rounds, so about 300,000.”
Braima: Kimoyo targets reaching $300,000 in ARR within 12 months
“We've been targeting 300,000 in ARR.”
User research requires two to three hours of analysis per interview hour
“For every hour that you spend talking to a customer is estimated that you spend two to three hours analyzing that study.”
Braima: UserTesting reached $100M ARR with 2,300 customers by 2021
“Usertesting.com reached a hundred million in ARR. I believe it was in about 15 years. They started in 2008. They weren't subscription based until about 2015. And then from there, I think by 2021, they had crossed over the hundred million mark with 2300 custome…”
Braima: Africa will hold one-third of global youth within seven years
“In seven years, Africa will be home to a third of the global population of youth.”
Braima: One in five internet users will be in Africa by 2050
“By twenty-fifty, one out of every five customers on the internet will be in Africa.”
Tobias: Kimoyo is a 'people renting' business, not software
“This is not, this is a people business where you're basically renting people. And for that reason, it doesn't fit my thesis and I'm out.”
Manus says five of her six African startup investments failed
“I've actually invested in six companies in Africa. Ok? Five went belly up.”
Wenger passes because her fund strictly mandates investing in US companies
“What I will tell you is I only invest in US-based companies, typically with US customers. So I've never invested in Africa before”
Braima: Microsoft ran over four studies with Kimoyo
“Microsoft is a U.S. Company, but just saying, and they've done more than Four studies with us in the past year.”
Tobias: Startups in foreign countries backed only by US VCs raise concerns
“I get a little concerned when I see only US VCs in an, in a foreign country.”
Hudson warns that heavy local capital in emerging markets is problematic
“We've had totally polar experiences. We've had some companies where we've had tons of local capital, and it's been highly problematic.”
Tobias: Consulting Companies Sell at 3x to 5x EBITDA
“Consulting companies sell at three or one X revenue, maybe three or five X EBITDA.”
Tobias predicts Kimoyo will exit for mid-double-digit millions, not $100M+
“I don't think it ends up being a billion dollar exit, or even a hundred million dollar exit. I think it ends up being a maybe mid double digits exit.”
Braima: Kimoyo aimed for US investor validation before approaching African VCs
“Our strategy was to first go with US slash Western, more well-known names, honestly, and then switch over to African investors with that kind of validation.”
Braima: Kimoyo added three new African investors after The Pitch
“We added three more investors. They're all African.”
Braima: Kimoyo has $550K in potential funding nearing term sheets
“There's some other ones that are a step before term sheets. And so it's a potential like 550 K that's like waiting there.”
Braima insists Kimoyo will become at least a $200 million business
“How do you not see that this is going to be like, you know, at least at the minimum, a couple hundred million dollar business?”
Braima: Africa Has Only Nine or Ten Tech Unicorns
“And there's only nine unicorns or 10 unicorns in Africa.”
Braima: African Data Market Will Be Obvious in 2-3 Years
“I think the way I look at it is like, you know, we're early to the market. We're early to this space, but I think in, in two years, three years time, everyone's going to be shocked at like, how you, what do you mean that you didn't understand the market for da…”