People & Business - Lexi Novitske is Making it in Africa with Singularity Investments
- 6 years ago
Alexandra is a Principal Investment Officer at Singularity Investments launched in 2014 in Nigeria. She heads the firm’s operations in Africa.
The Firm invests in visionary entrepreneurs in early stage, technology-enabled companies in Africa. When Lexi moved to Nigeria, she faced tremendous disapproval and uncertainties from family and friends.
Lexi’s parents were worried about her safety while others were concerned that her promising career in investment would shift to charity work.
These anxieties were driven by genuine care and unawareness about Nigeria. The decision to move ahead became much difficult as Lexi became aware of the lack of support to dedicate her career to growing investment countries.
To be fair, Lexi thought the questions were a bit unreasonable. She believed she’ll grow into a much better leader who tackles challenges straight on. She had a growth mindset and frequently challenged her own constant mindset.
Lexi is shy, skeptical and often spread herself too thin. She’s also self-critical. At the time she started, her knowledge of tech was still very basic.
But she had a thesis she believed would make the next wave of difference in Africa. Above all, she is proud to say she is confident that the strong talent driving new tech models would generate the next economic growth.
Lexi believes that the lower barrier, in African context, to entry for tech companies to reach rapid growth is often best served by joining with, rather than challenging major industry players.
Telecom companies already engage with consumers and represent trust brands. They have data on their customers which isn’t readily available in the market as well as established relationships with regulators which can be otherwise hard for small companies to build.
In the past, Lexi believed that replicating successful business media from other markets in a local context reduced business model risk.
The Firm invests in visionary entrepreneurs in early stage, technology-enabled companies in Africa. When Lexi moved to Nigeria, she faced tremendous disapproval and uncertainties from family and friends.
Lexi’s parents were worried about her safety while others were concerned that her promising career in investment would shift to charity work.
These anxieties were driven by genuine care and unawareness about Nigeria. The decision to move ahead became much difficult as Lexi became aware of the lack of support to dedicate her career to growing investment countries.
To be fair, Lexi thought the questions were a bit unreasonable. She believed she’ll grow into a much better leader who tackles challenges straight on. She had a growth mindset and frequently challenged her own constant mindset.
Lexi is shy, skeptical and often spread herself too thin. She’s also self-critical. At the time she started, her knowledge of tech was still very basic.
But she had a thesis she believed would make the next wave of difference in Africa. Above all, she is proud to say she is confident that the strong talent driving new tech models would generate the next economic growth.
Lexi believes that the lower barrier, in African context, to entry for tech companies to reach rapid growth is often best served by joining with, rather than challenging major industry players.
Telecom companies already engage with consumers and represent trust brands. They have data on their customers which isn’t readily available in the market as well as established relationships with regulators which can be otherwise hard for small companies to build.
In the past, Lexi believed that replicating successful business media from other markets in a local context reduced business model risk.