Two experienced operators in the African tech ecosystem, Seni Sulyman (CEO), and Kayode Oyewole, with $850,000 pre-seed funding, have partnered to launch Talstack, a subscription-based talent management platform that enables companies to identify learning gaps or growth areas and upskill their employees with tools and courses from Africa’s best operators.
Founded by Seni Sulyman and Kayode Oyewole, Talstack was born from the fundamental belief that Africa’s most significant opportunity over the next decade will come from enabling African businesses to compete globally by investing massively in talent growth and development.
The company secured $850,000 in pre-seed funding from Ventures Platform, TLcom, Voltron Capital, Golden Palm Investments, and a syndicate constituting experienced operators and angel investors to actualize this vision.
Speaking on the investment, Kola Aina, founding Partner of Ventures Platform, said, “The decision to invest in Talstack was driven by its timely and innovative solution to helping Africa’s businesses level up to compete globally. With half of all employees globally needing to upskill or reskill by 2025, Talstack’s comprehensive learning platform is well-positioned to address this critical challenge.”
“We believe in Talstack’s mission and the strong leadership of its founders.” He added, “Kayode Oyewole and Seni Sulyman are top performers that we know well as long-standing members of the Ventures Platform family. We have full faith in their ability to drive Talstack’s success and are honored to stand beside them in this journey as we enable Africa’s businesses to compete on the global stage.”
Eloho Omame, Partner at TLcom Capital, adds, “As a complement to our core strategy of Seed and Series A investments in Africa, TLcom invests selectively in pre-seed companies led by founders of the highest caliber, who combine deep market knowledge with proven operating track records. We’re proud to welcome Talstack as one such investment and the first out of our TIDE Africa Fund II. In Seni and Kayode, we’re excited about a co-founder duo that combines several attractive attributes, including great founder-market fit and highly complementary experience as leaders at Andela and Ventures Platform. Talstack is building a differentiated talent development proposition, and we look forward to supporting the company’s journey.”
Talstack is starting with small startups with tens to hundreds of employees, helping legacy companies such as banks, telcos, and large consumer-facing companies deliver outcomes for thousands of their employees is critical to seeing exponential growth and adoption. For now, though, Talstack, buoyed by founders-market fit and an $850,000 pre-seed, will first experiment, then wait and see if Africa, which has the youngest population globally, wants what it’s selling.
