Chair of African Angels Guild and CEO of Dala For Africa
Keynote speaker and adviser on venture capital, angel investing and cross-border market entry. A deep tech fund partner and angel syndicate chair with more than 60 early-stage deals behind the advice.
Recent stages
Each talk is tailored to the event and the room and works as a keynote, a fireside conversation or a hands-on workshop.
Africa's early-stage funding gap is as much a people problem as a capital problem. Thaheer makes the case that operating and exited founders are the strongest source of new angel investors. He shows how syndicates, education and sensible deal structures turn them into active backers.
Too many founders assume venture capital is the only path. Drawing on more than 60 early-stage deals across equity, debt and grant capital, Thaheer walks through the options and how to judge which suits a business's stage and margins. He also sets out what each type of funder needs to see.
Software alone will not close Africa's infrastructure gaps. Thaheer sets out the investment case for hardware, compute and satellite infrastructure and why retaining talent and moving with urgency matter. He also shows how corridors with India, the Gulf and North Africa can help finance it.
Most corporate–startup pilots stall before a contract is signed. Drawing on workshops he has led at AIM Congress and his partnership structuring work for innovation ecosystems, Thaheer shows how to scope, govern and structure partnerships so that pilots turn into commercial integration.
Keynotes, panels, workshops and firesides at investment, deep tech and AI events across Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia.
Hands-on help with the structural questions that decide whether an investment, a partnership or a market entry holds together.
A focused paid session of 60 to 90 minutes to pressure-test a deck, a data room, a deal or a market-entry plan. Best for founders and teams who need an experienced second opinion quickly.
A fixed-scope engagement with a clear deliverable, such as a data-room review, a partnership framework, a syndicate structure or a market-entry plan.
A retainer, advisory council seat or board role for organisations that want a standing adviser on capital, partnerships and African markets.
Reviewed the data room and investment readiness of a deep tech company in a pan-African accelerator cohort ahead of its raise. The founder brought Thaheer back for a follow-on review as the data room neared completion.
Structured an angel syndicate's investment into a European-domiciled cloud infrastructure company expanding across Africa, including the offshore funding route and a vehicle for other angel networks to participate.
2025 Visionary of the Year (Finance & Insurance), Forttuna Global Excellence Awards
Panel at the African Startup Conference, Algiers
Thaheer Mullins chairs the African Angels Guild, a cross-border angel syndicate. He is also CEO of Dala For Africa, which helps investors, corporates and founders evaluate, structure and scale opportunities across African markets. A fund partner in an early-stage deep tech venture fund, he has been involved in more than 60 early-stage transactions across venture capital, angel, debt and grant capital. He co-founded the SNDBX Innovation Centre and founded African Angels Community, a vetted community of active business angel investors. He is co-organising KILN 2026, Africa's AI and deep tech hackathon. He sits on the Seed Fund Investment Committee of South Africa's National Research Foundation. He also mentors African deep tech founders through Open Startup International's BRAIN programme. Thaheer holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town with an emphasis on company valuations and has a background in data science. He has spoken in 11 countries, at events including GITEX Global, AIM Congress and the Global AI Congress for Africa. He was named 2025 Visionary of the Year (Finance & Insurance) at the Forttuna Global Excellence Awards.
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Based in South Africa and available for engagements internationally, in person or virtually.