Mr Eazi, Black Coffee and Ajebutter22: African musical artists who support startups

This April, Black Coffee, the famous South African DJ and record producer whose real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo, made history at the Grammys. With their seventh studio album 'Unconsciously', they became the first African band to win an award in the Best Dance/Electronic Album category.

His victory came as the global appetite for Amapiano, a style of house music that emerged in South Africa, and Afrobeats, a popular music genre originating in West Africa, grew exponentially. It was a much-needed hit for the African music scene, and while it might not look like it, it was a boost for its tech scene.

Over the past two years, there has been an overlap between technology and art, fueling growing interest from movie, music and sports stars investing in tech startups. Some of them, including Grammy Award-winning artists such as Jay-Z, The Chainsmokers, Nas and others like Snoop Dogg, have launched various funds to invest in startups in the United States, Europe and in the world.

So for Black Coffee, which backed Andela, a tech talent incubator and unicorn launched from Lagos in 2015, its victory meant the African tech scene could, for the first time, boast an artist Grammy Award-winning local as an investor in its startups.

Before Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) co-founded Marcy Ventures in 2018, he was involved with other ventures such as historic entertainment company Roc Nation and champagne brand Armand de Brignac. His music career has given him the resources and access to diversify his financial interests, including into startups, despite the lifestyle contrasts between the tech and entertainment worlds.

One African entertainer who has made no secret of his love for Jay-Z's entrepreneurial moves, and seems to be embracing the billionaire's playbook, is Mr. Eazi (real name Oluwatosin Ajibade).

"The main driver that got me into music was reading a book called 'Empire State of Mind' about Jay-Z," Mr. Eazi told TechCrunch during a call. "I had a passion for music and I realized early on that the music industry would give me access to where I wanted to be. It's like a way for me to have all the freedom I wanted and to still reach the destination of financial independence by making several investments."

Last August, the famed Afrobeats singer and songwriter made headlines in African tech circles following his investment in pawaPay, a UK-based, Africa-focused mobile payments company through Zagadat Capital. But unlike Jay-Z, Mr. Eazi had a technical background before captivating audiences with hit songs like "Skin Tight," "Hollup" and "Leg Over" and producing three mixtapes and two EPs during his tenure. long musical career.

In 2014, Mr. Eazi launched Phonetrader, an online marketplace for used phones backed by a now-defunct startup incubator, 440NG, which was run by two investment firms, L5Lab and 88mph . While Mr. Eazi learned the ropes of starting a business and scaling products during his time at Phonetrader, he also got to understand the investment dynamics of Chika Nwobi, the founder of L5Lab and current CEO of Decagon, an engineering talent recruitment platform, after attending several investor meetings.

These lessons will prove useful in 2019 when Mr. Eazi – having established his overseas presence and relationships in the US, UK and Europe – launched EmPawa Africa, an organization to accelerate the musical career of young artists. "When I started emPawa Africa, I wanted to experiment with the VC model by investing in many artists," said the artist who recently completed a program at Harvard Business...