News & Events

May

TAN May MNE - Understanding the VC world: When Silicon Valley goes to Africa

Brief description

Dave and Bill will present their experiences in investing in the Agro business in Africa and possible diversifications in other sectors. As a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley and investing in Africa, they will be able to share their experiences on capital costs (double taxation, foreign currency fluctuation, etc), managing the risk in such a new environment, the main challenges and the worth of investing in Africa with respect to projected rate of return, untapped opportunities, etc.

This specific venture capital experience by Dave and Bill will also highlight possible opportunities that exist and how these are frequently overlooked; real risk versus perceived risk; convergence of mission-related investing and investing just for profit (for entrepreneurs wanting to do business in Africa – African descendants or not); and positioning a business (identity) to succeed on the continent. 

Speakers' Bios

David Jeromin

David is a Co-Founder of Golden Mean Capital and is responsible for the firm's business development and the structuring of investments in Africa. Mr. Jeromin is a seasoned financial executive with a wide range of experience- from arranging middle market financial transactions to business and economic development initiatives in frontier markets. His specific interests are development projects involving African Small to Medium Enterprises with particular emphasis in fragmented or disparate markets. Mr. Jeromin has experience in the study and application of Social Return on Investment (SROI) analytics and believes the use of SROI as well as traditional valuation measures allow individuals and institutions alike to measure the full impact of their investments. Prior to helping create Golden Mean Capital, Mr. Jeromin was a Vice President with the investment bank Oppenheimer & Company from 2004-2007.

David is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Caranda Fine Foods, an African specialty foods company.

William Silva

William is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Golden Mean Capital. At Golden Mean he is responsible for business development, consulting and strategic advisory services, and investor services. Prior to founding Golden Mean, Mr. Silva was Senior Vice President of Private Investments at the Shemano Group - a San Francisco based investment-banking firm. In this role he lead the company's division focused on funding early stage ventures using equity, quasi-equity, and debt instruments across a wide range of sectors including: healthcare, software, bio-tech, and retail.

Mr. Silva has earned degrees from the University of San Francisco and Stanford University in International Education and Policy Analysis.

About Golden Mean Capital

Golden Mean Capital is guided by an understanding that investments in developing human and institutional capacity play a powerful role in creating prosperity in today's emerging markets. We believe that well-timed and well-placed investments carry the potential to build profitable and successful companies as well as effecting high impacting and sustainable social change. Golden Mean Capital provides high level strategic advisory services to entrepreneurs, institutions, and investors, based upon our experience in international finance and development and extensive professional network. As a frontier market-focused venture consulting firm we recognize the specific terms that define success by a wide range of constituencies and are committed to helping our stakeholders realize their objectives.

There will be free drinks and hors d’oeuvre will be offered.