At a colorful stakeholder ceremony held at the Sankara Hotel in Nairobi, Homecoming Revolution, a pan-African executive search firm, unveiled their new platform. The platform, dubbed “Insights By Experts,” allows global investors and companies to access on-demand independent talent from a vetted community of experienced African experts from a variety of African countries and sectors. “Over the past two decades, Homecoming Revolution has built deep relationships across the continent with some of the leading corporates and sector specialists, and are now bringing it all together on the Insights By Experts platform,” says Janade du Plessis, Fund Manager at Launch Africa. The launch has been spurred by a soaring number of investors and companies who want to scale in Africa but are constrained by a lack of quick and relevant “on the ground” knowledge. Insights by Experts offers a rich repository of African experts curated by Homecoming Revolution, which has been in operation since 2003. “Congratulations to the Insights by Experts team for creating such an amazing platform of so many different specialties”, said Stephen Mburu, CEO Phillips Pharmaceuticals Kenya. The senior and experienced African experts can offer up-to-date, on-the-ground insights, advice, and opinions. The experts can be engaged for a range of needs including one-on-one chats, contracts or projects, coaching and mentoring, introductions, board positions, and more. “It is a real privilege to create a platform that shares deep African expertise with the world. We hope that it will foster significant economic growth on the continent. Thank you to our incredible team, experts, and investors who have made this idea come to life”, said Angel Jones, CEO, Homecoming Revolution. The experts will be useful during value identification (deal origination) and value validation (due diligence) which includes customer perception, founder references, competitor snapshots, technical assessments, customer problems and needs, market perceptions, and high-level risks. The experts’ services also come in handy during value acceleration (performance improvement), which includes governance, pricing validation, human resources consulting, go-to-market intelligence, partnerships & distributors’ procurement, as well as obvious quick wins. “It has been great working with the Homecoming Revolution team and I congratulate them on their new expertise platform, Insights by Experts. Now it will be easy to pick the brains of a vast number of different experts across Africa”, said Leonard Kimutai Tonui, Strategy Director at Coca Cola Beverages Africa in Kenya. Value integration (aggressive growth), which includes the exploration of new business lines, acquisition considerations, regulatory risks of regional growth, technical endorsements, and Board seats, is a key process that requires significant input from experts. Finally, experts will be required for market value optimization before exit, which will include independent business plan validation, long-term improvement plans, and sale price maximization. “For the PE and VC industry, we are continually in search of talent to work with for market insights as we grow our companies, or for senior team members for our portfolio companies. I think this platform is unique and could be of enormous help to our members”, said Eva Warigia, Executive Director of the East Africa Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. The platform can be accessed through self-service or with the help of the company. The self-service process consists of six steps that begin with a search that spans many countries, industries, and disciplines. The client then submits a consultation request to the expert, along with key questions and suggested meeting dates. The client receives the expert’s response and confirms the consultation date, which is followed by a calendar invite from the expert that includes a video link. The client then converses with the expert and gains access to confidential information. Eventually, the client rates the expert and the experience. If the customer requires additional assistance, the platform allows the customer to directly brief the recruitment team. These expert packages can be customized based on budget, delivery time, and outputs, and can include one-time chats or a longer engagement. Hundreds of experts have been loaded onto the platform so far, with thousands more in Homecoming Revolution’s unique database. Jandade du Plessis, Fund Manager at Launch Africa Ventures, continues, “We look forward to using the platform in our own business, for our portfolio companies, and our corporate partners.”
