Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →
Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →Oye — an Alternative Circle venture — named to Bloomberg's 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.Read the feature →
Kevin Mutiso

Ventures

Four operating bets, one thesis.

Africa’s next durable businesses will be built by Africans owning the operating layer — capital, distribution, and category-defining product. Each venture below is a long-hold bet against that thesis.

ActiveFounder & CEO · 2015 — present

Alternative Circle

The parent vehicle. The thesis: build durable, billion-dollar African ventures by owning the operating layer — capital, distribution, and category-defining product — instead of renting it.

Read the case study→
ExitedCo-founder · 2016 — 2020

Shika

The digital lending app that proved the thesis. Raised $1.1M from CreditInfo in 2017, helped birth Kenya's digital credit category, and seeded the regulatory work that became DFSAK.

Read the case study→
ActiveCo-founder · 2021 — present

Oye

Pre-negotiated commodities and insurance for the boda boda economy. Equity-backed by Britam. Total Energies, Vivo, Galana, Mogo on the platform.

Read the case study→
ActiveChairman · 2026 — present

Dhahabu Bulk Traders

The trade pipeline for premium African brands. Curates independent producers, builds the export-grade machinery around them, places them in markets the incumbents have overlooked. Caspian Corridor first. Stir Me and Guka's — independent Kenyan brands — are the first two lines on the pipe.

Read the case study→