The BIG5D Podcast

In this episode of the BIG5D Podcast, host Charles Laughlin sits down with Jill Kerr, co-founder of Misfit Ventures, and Laura Thomas, founder of The Aligned Woman, to talk about the struggles female founders face in Africa.  Recorded live at the 2026 BigFive Summit in Cape Town, this conversation tackles the stark reality that female-led startups in Africa receive just 2% of venture capital fundi...

Welcome to the BIG5D Podcast, home to important conversations on the Business of African Tech. We recorded this interview with Zach George, the CEO and co-founder of Launch Africa Ventures, on stage at the March BigFive Summit in Cape Town. This episode is sponsored by Telkom , also the lead sponsor of the 2026 BigFive Summit. At Telkom, “Possible Begins Here”. Learn more at Telkom.co.za Sitting d...

Welcome to the BIG5D Podcast, where we bring you meaningful conversations on the Business of African Tech. We recorded this interview with Rahul Jain, the CEO and co-founder of Peach Payments, on stage at the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town. This episode is sponsored by Telkom, also the lead sponsor of the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town.  At Telkom, “Possible Begins Here”. Learn more at Tel...

Episode 57 of the Big5D Podcast again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a primer on how to choose a digital marketing agency partner led by Summit Co-host Amanda Louw-Bester (Pragmattica Consulting) and featuring Bianca Waterberg, the founder...

In Episode 56 of the BIG5D Podcast, we talk about venture building with Keshni Morar, the MD-South Africa, Founder Institute. The conversation jumps off from a LinkedIn post Keshni wrote about #Statuptruth in which she laments how too many startup founders fail to appreciate the need to carefully manage the funds they raise from investors. “$1M in funding doesn't make you rich,” Keshni wrote. “It...

Episode 55 of the Big5D Podcast once again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa.  This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a panel on Go to Market Strategies for SMEs led by Summit Co-host Amanda Louw-Bester (Pragmattica Consulting).  The panel features three entrepreneurs who have seen...

Episode 54 of the BIG5D Podcast again turns to the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town for source material. This episode features a panel discussion of the kinds of support, in addition to capital, that African startups need to be successful -- things like best practice sharing and mentorship, among others. Sharing their views are Lucie Fink, CEO of Thinkroom Consulting; Egla Ntumba of MsFit Ventur...

Episode 53 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of an on-stage interview with Loop Co-founder Jamie Wyngaard at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Loop is a South African fintech startup that has digitized payments for African minibus taxi drivers using WhatsApp. Loop's broader ambition is to become a payment solution for emerging markets. Episode 53 of the BIG5D Podcast is supported b...

Episode 52 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of a Fireside Chat (sans fire) that we recorded with Zachariah George at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Zach is Managing Partner of Launch Africa Ventures, the Cape Town venture firm that has invested in African startups including Happy Pay, Peach Payments, Kuda Bank, Moove, Gozem, and many others. Zach has a very clear perspective on...

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Local Knowledge. Episode 51 of the BIG5D Podcast , features a conversation about using the subscription model to help South Africans gain access to automobiles in a non-traditional manner with Tinashe Ruzane , the co-founder and CEO of FlexClub . FlexClub helps South Africans access vehicles when they need them on a pay-as-you-go basis (they partne...

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Are you claiming and managing your own Google Maps listings? Meet Local Knowledge, the Leader in “We Do It For You” Digital Location Management and Local SEO Services . Welcome to Episode 50 of the BIG5D Podcast , a production of BigFive Digital and the Africa B2B Tech Report. In recent episodes, we have been having in-depth discussions about the l...

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Fraktional.dev Fraktional connects developers and organizations for short to medium-term projects. Contact Fraktional.dev to learn more. Welcome to Episode 49 of the BIG5D Podcast , a production of BigFive Digital and the Africa B2B Tech Report. In this episode, I talk about AI and blockchain with the candid and opinionated Steven Boykey Sidley . S...

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Fraktional.dev Fraktional connects developers and organizations for short to medium-term projects. Contact Fraktional.dev to learn more. Welcome to Episode 48 of the BIG5D Podcast . In this episode, I take a deep dive into embedded finance and banking as a service with Houssam Kayal , the chief revenue officer of FOO , a Dubai-based B2B SaaS compan...

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Realm Digital “Empowering industry leaders through innovative business solutions” Contact RealmDigital.com to learn more. Welcome to Episode 47 of the BIG5D Podcast . In this episode, I chat about using AI to solve the “SME funding gap” with Nic Rawhani , the Co-founder & CEO of Vula , a company that offers “AI SME funding tech”. I struggle to imag...

This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Fraktional.dev Fraktional connects developers and organizations for short to medium-term projects. Contact Fraktional.dev to learn more. Welcome to Episode 46 of the BIG5D Podcast . In this episode, we receive an informal masterclass on augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) from Imtiyaz Mohamed , the principal consultant at Realm Digital , a South...

This episode of the Big5D Podcast is presented by Realm Digital Realm empowers industry leaders through innovative business solutions. Please visit them at realmdigital.com . Contact Realm Digital to learn more. Welcome to Episode 45 of the BIG5D Podcast . In this episode, we interview another compelling young South African startup founder. Medical doctor and health-tech entrepreneur Zane Stenning...

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with an interview with Kimberley Taylor, the founder and CEO of Loop, a South African logistic tech startup Loop. The discussion is all about a young founder's journey from idea to execution. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at...

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with an interview with Kimberley Taylor, the founder and CEO of Loop, a South African logistic tech startup Loop. The discussion is all about a young founder's journey from idea to execution. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at...

The BigFive Summit Speaker Podcast Series continues with an interview with Kimberley Taylor, the founder and CEO of Loop, a South African logistic tech startup Loop. The discussion is all about a young founder's journey from idea to execution. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 BigFive Summit, "Africa's leading small business technology event" coming to Cape Town 19-20 March 2024. Learn more at...

The BigFive Summit Speaker Series features conversations about Africa’s tech scene, empowering SMEs with technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, startup life, and much more featuring the incredible thought leaders who will speak at the 2024 BigFive Summit , 19-20 March in Cape Town. The series’ first guest is Aisha Pandor , the CEO of SweepSouth , a two-sided marketplace startup celebrating its...

The BigFive Summit Speaker Series features conversations about Africa’s tech scene, empowering SMEs with technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, startup life, and much more featuring the incredible thought leaders who will speak at the 2024 BigFive Summit , 19-20 March in Cape Town. The series’ first guest is Aisha Pandor , the CEO of SweepSouth , a two-sided marketplace startup celebrating its...

The BigFive Summit Speaker Series features conversations about Africa’s tech scene, empowering SMEs with technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, startup life, and much more featuring the incredible thought leaders who will speak at the 2024 BigFive Summit , 19-20 March in Cape Town. The series’ first guest is Aisha Pandor , the CEO of SweepSouth , a two-sided marketplace startup celebrating its...

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Duda is a website builder trusted by more than 20,000 agencies and SaaS platforms worldwide. Every 17 seconds a new website is created on Duda . Please write to Mitul Patel ( Mitul@duda.co ) to begin a conversation with Duda. Episode 37 of the Big5D Podcast delves into how AI can move the needle for small business digital marketing in Africa. Our guest is Michelle Geere , the founder & CEO of AdBo...

Episode 36 of BigFive Digital’s BIG5D Podcast features another speaker from the recent BigFive Digital Summit in Cape Town (aka “Africa’s Leading Small-business Technology Event”). Our guest, Caitlin Craig , is head of private capital markets for Untapped Global , which she describes as a “Global investment company focused on emerging markets, specifically Africa. We're trying to reshape how profi...