Johan Richards
Founder & Managing Partner, Synergos Venture Partners
Former Business Transformation Advisor on Stanford Seed Transformation Program
Angel Investor in various African start-ups & early-stage venture capital investor
Lecturer at various prominent business schools on their executive education programs
Certified Leadership Coach, Mentor & Mediator
Johan Richards has 35+ years of Africa-focused entrepreneurial and consulting experience and has assisted 80+ entrepreneurial start-ups across 15+ different industries in 18+ Sub-Saharan African countries. One of his most notable successes has been his involvement as an angel investor with the start-up and scaling of AfriSki. AfriSki is the largest snow, ski and adventure mountain resort on the African continent and the mountain kingdom of Lesotho's biggest tourism project.
Johan was also a Business Transformation Advisor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business Seed Transformation Program, a program that develops entrepreneurs in emerging economies. He also consulted with and assisted many other significant national and international companies operating on the African continent or wanting to expand onto the African continent.
- 35+ years of Entrepreneurial Experience
- 15+ Industry Sectors
- 18+ Sub-Saharan African Countries
- 80+ Entrepreneurial start-ups
- 10+ VC/Angel Investments
- Diversified by stage, sector, and geography
Bheki Nkomo
General Partner at Synergos Venture Partners
Former Business Coach on Stanford Seed Transformation Program
Co-founder of many ventures across fintech, SaaS, and e-Commerce
Former senior executive in multiple multi-national organisations
Bheki brings extensive Southern and East African experience in business advisory, leadership development, and organisational transformation, with a strong track record of working directly with founders, executive teams, and growth-stage enterprises operating in complex and resource-constrained markets. His advisory work spans strategy formulation, operational alignment, leadership effectiveness, and enterprise scaling, with a particular focus on strengthening management capability and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.
As a former Stanford Seed Business Coach, Bheki has worked closely with entrepreneurial leadership teams across multiple African markets, supporting businesses as they professionalise operations, improve governance structures, and execute growth strategies. His experience enables EDiA to engage credibly with SMEs and portfolio companies, navigating transition points, ensuring advisory support is both practical and grounded in on-the-ground operational realities
GP's Investment & Consulting Experience
Previous Angel & Venture Capital Investments:
Previous Consulting and Entrepreneurial Development done for
Rosemond Phil-Othihiwa
Corporate-Commercial & Startup Lawyer
Venture Capital Fellow at Dream VC
Mentor at Google for Startups Africa
Passionate about strengthening Africa’s venture ecosystem
- Provided legal, governance, and compliance support to startups, accelerators, and funds across Africa and globally - working with organizations such as Google for Startups, LASRIC, WEMA Bank, Impact Hub, and the European Business Institute of Luxembourg.
- Currently serves as Vice Chair of the Corporate Governance & Compliance Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (SBL)
- Held senior legal roles with Sand Technologies/ALX Africa, acted as Legal Partner at Synd.Africa, and served as a Partner at Debo Akande LLP.
- Mentored founders on regulatory compliance, deal structuring, and investor readiness, while also supporting investors in navigating complex multi-jurisdictional transactions
- Holds an LL.B from the University of Benin, a B.L from the Nigerian Law School, and postgraduate certifications in Finance, Ethics, and Leadership from the European Business Institute of Luxembourg
Zacharia George
Leading African Tech Angel Investor;
Managing Partner @Launch Africa Ventures;
Chief Investment Officer @Startupbootcamp Africa;
Former Wall St Investment Banker;
Stanford and I.I.T. alum; MENSA; Harambean; Musician; Dad
- Managing Partner at Launch Africa Ventures – the most prominent and active early-stage Venture Capital Fund across the African continent.
- Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Startupbootcamp AfriTech – the leading multi-corporate backed venture accelerator program in Africa.
- investments in 100+ of the leading tech startups in Africa including Flutterwave, Kudabank, MPost, Peach Payments, RecoMed and several others.
- co-featured on the cover of Fast Company Africa in May 2018, Destiny Man Magazine in November 2019, and in December 2019 was recognized as one of the Top 10 Most Influential People in Technology in Africa.
Andrew Zalasin
GP, RRE Ventures (17 years)
Top Social Influencer
Ranked Among Most Loved VCs
- 25+ years of venture capital and private equity investment and operational experience with entrepreneurial growth companies
- Early investor in Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Venmo, Wisdom Tree, MakerBot, Magnolia Cupcakes, Concur, Massive
- Former General Partner for 17 years at RRE Ventures, a leading technology venture capital firm with $1.5B across seven funds
- Involved in nearly 200 investments and has served on more than 30 boards in the US, Europe and Asia, and has been instrumental in generating industry-leading returns and providing experience and resources to help companies build teams, attack new market opportunities, identify and secure strategic initiatives/partnerships and achieve profitable growth in all phases of development
AgriTech
Elias Chikoto
Elias Chikoto has over seven years of strategy and management consulting experience gained at Gemini Consulting, IBM, and Zariro Consulting. He started Zariro Consulting in 2011, and is currently working with clients in private equity whose focus is Africa.
Before starting Zariro Consulting, he worked for Syngenta Agro AG, spending five of the six years he worked there at the company's headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. He had various roles there, including Head of Strategy and Planning CP for Africa Middle East.
Specialties include Strategy, operations, business development
Agribusiness, Private Equity, Energy, Mining, FMCG.
FinTech
Terence Singh
Terence has 25+ years experience in consulting finance and general management with a focus on financial services, having spent 12 years in banking and 5 years consulting in financial services. He worked in the banking strategy function as well as in the operational and client facing areas.
- MBA (Finance) at Wits Business School
- MSc (Chemistry) at UKZN
- BSc (Hons) at UKZN
Lané Richards
Lané completed her BAcc degree Cum Laude at the University of Stellenbosch (2019) and completed her BAccHons (2020). After joining the CA(SA) Entrepreneurship Programme at the VAT IT group, she was one of the founders of Zee - Importer of Record (2021), where she fulfilled various leadership roles. Currently, as Commercial Transactions Manager, she structures cross-border trade transactions to facilitate global deployment of networking equipment.
Throughout her journey, she is continually involved in philanthropic causes and committed to having a sustainable and significant impact on her environment.
She is ambitious, has an inquisitive mind, and seeks to continually broaden her knowledge and current skills, making her a unique high performer. She is known to be conscientious but values interpersonal relationships. Affinity for business development in e-commerce through global expansion, investing by way of venture capital & private equity. Entrepreneurial spirit and proud business owner.
- CA (SA)
- Co-founder of multiple Entrepreneurial Startups
- Previous Exco member of the Johannesburg Article Clerks Association
- Golden Key International Honours Society member
- Stellenbosch University, BAcc (Cum Laude) & BAcc Hon
www.linkedin.com/in/lané-richards-593647129/