Tomi Davies
Born
Harry Tomi Davies

(1955-06-09) June 9, 1955
Alma materUniversity of Miami
Known forangel investment, startups, advisor, speaker
Notable workSupa Strikas, The African Project Manager
PartnerLola Davies
Children3
Websitetomidavies.com

Harry Tomi Davies (born June 9, 1955) is a Nigerian British investor, speaker, author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and advisor to technology companies.[1][2][3] He is the chief executive officer of TVCLabs, a technology business accelerator based in Lagos, and the founding president of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), a network of individuals and organisations who invest in and mentor African startups. He has a wealth of experience in IT, consulting, and innovation, and has worked with global brands such as IBM, Marks & Spencer, Ernst & Young, and Sapient. He is also a public speaker who inspires audiences with his insights, stories, and strategies for driving business success in Africa.[4][5][6]

Early life

Davies was born on June 9, 1955. He attended his primary education at Corona School, Victoria Island, Lagos and later proceeding for his secondary school education at King's College, Lagos and St Gregory's College, Ikoyi, Lagos respectively. Davies is an alumnus of University of Miami and University of Miami School of Business.[7]

Business career

Early career

After graduating from University of Miami, Davies worked briefly for IBM as a Systems Engineer before returning to Nigeria to join the oil giant Elf Acquitaine's marketing company where he became its head of Data Processing. He returned to the UK in 1990 and joined Marks and Spencer where he became head of IT Research, registering the retail brands domain and building its first website. He then worked as an Executive Consultant with Ernst & Young where his clients included AB&B, Legal & General, Prudential and Novartis. During the late 1990s dotcom era, he ran the E&Y business incubator Futurewealth as the chief operating officer. On acquisition of its consulting practice by Cap Gemini, Davies and his incubator team joined Sapient where he became head of Strategy and built direct.gov.uk for the United Kingdom government. He returned to Nigeria as chief operating officer of public-sector consultants Alteq and implemented the World Bank-funded pilot of the first-ever biometric-based Integrated Payroll & Personnel System (IPPIS) for the Federal Government of Nigeria.[8]

Business angel investing

In August 2012, Davies began angel investing in earnest by co-founding Lagos Angel Network which is a network of individuals and organizations who invest in and mentor start-ups based in Lagos, Nigeria. He later moved on to be the co-founder and president of the African Business Angels Network, a pan-African non-profit association founded to support the development of early-stage investor networks in November 2014.[9][10]

African Business Angel Network is a consortium of independent African angel investing networks including Lagos Angel Network,[11] Cameroon Angel Network, Cairo Angels, Ghana Angel Network, Venture Capital for Africa, Silicon Cape, Middle-East Business Angels Network and the European Business Angel Network.

Davies through his role as African Business Angel Network president[12] now travels to several countries to support the development of early-stage investment networks and help educate local investors.[13][14]

TechnoVision

After helping found the company in 1999, in 2009, Davies became the chief executive officer of TechnoVision, a technology advisory and solutions company which provides these services to private and public-sector clients through its offices in London and Lagos. From 2010 to 2012 he joined the team that revived Mobitel as its chief operating officer.[15] After this, Davies returned to TechnoVision as Collaborator in Chief to set up the technology business accelerator services arm of the business.

SupaStrikas

Davies owns Strika Entertainment Nigeria, which is the publisher of SupaStrikas in Nigeria and Ghana.[16][17] SupaStrikas comics is a fantasy football league comic and Africa's highest-circulation publication, with over one million copies circulated monthly to South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia and Botswana. [18]

Sproxil

In 2009, after investing in and helping develop the company's business model, Davies was appointed as director for Sproxil Nigeria. He acted as the first managing director for the company in Nigeria from 2012 to 2014 and left the board after over seven years but remains a shareholder.

SlimTrader

Davies served as an advisor at SlimTrader.[19]

GreenTec Capital Partners

In 2020, Davies was appointed as the chief investment officer at GreenTec Capital Partners.[20] His role is geared towards increasing investments in African startups.

Philanthropy

Davies co-founded Laptop 4 Learning, an initiative created to provide access screen-based technology to underprivileged primary school children and their teachers.[21] Working closely with the State and Local Governments, school administrators, parents and local community leaders in Nigeria.[22]

Recognition

Davies was named the Icon of Hope at the Comic Panel Hero Award 2014. Davies was also given a Distinguished SME Partner Award by Fidelity Bank Nigeria In 2011, he was named Information Technology Champion by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) and recognized as top 100 Bame leaders influencing the tech sector.[23]

In 2020 tagged him "Africa's top Angel" in an article that describes Davies angel investment journey from the first company he backed in 2001, his first exit and a decade later being recognized as an architect of early-stage investing across Africa and President of The African Business Angel Network in 2015.

In January 2022 Davies was named by New African Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential Africans of 2021" for his work nurturing early stage networks.[24]

Personal life

Tomi Davies is married to Lola Davies and they have three children together.[25]

Published works

Davies first published book was titled Corporate Bold: What Every Corporate Professional Should Know (ISBN 978-1462015139) on June 28, 2011. He later went on to co-author Cracking The Success Code with Brian Tracy (ISBN 978- 0985364304) on May 25, 2012,The African Project Manager: Managing Projects Successfully in Africa (ISBN 978-1494285340) on September 19, 2014, and Investment Worthy Startup: Building Business Ventures Investors Want To Fund on February 8, 2023.[26][27]

References

  1. ↑ "Meet the Investor: Tomi Davies". Disrupt Africa. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Systems Analysis Expert Harry 'Tomi Davies Named as One of America's PremierExperts®". Retrieved 13 March 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ↑ "Tomi Davies Speaks On Retirement, The African Tech Scene And Angel Investors". TechCabal. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Tomi Davies". Startups West Africa. Bertrams Lukstins. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Poetic Investments With Tomi Davies". African Tech Conversations. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Welcome". Tomi Davies (TD) Official Site. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  7. ↑ "Africas Top Angel investor". Teckcrunch. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Berkshire Rooms appoints two directors". Serviced Apartments News. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "The African Business Angel – An Early Stage Investment Opportunity". The European Trade Association for Business Angels. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "12 investors to provide seed funds for tech start-ups". Vanguard Newspaper. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  11. ↑ O, T. (28 October 2012). "Angels in Lagos". The Economist. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ↑ Arlidge, John (21 March 2021). "Can Britain roar alongside Nigeria's Lion King tycoons?". The Sunday Times UK. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "Ingressive hosts "Tour of Tech" – an Investment Tourism to Convene Silicon Valley and Silicon Africa". BellaNaija. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "H.Tomi Davies at African Investors Summit: "The world is expecting what we can achieve and ready to support us."". Afrik Diaspo News. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "Nigeria's Mobitel appoints new COO". IT News Africa. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  16. ↑ "Nigeria: Malta Guinness, Mr. Biggs Okay Supa Strikas". All Africa. Retrieved 12 March 2004.
  17. ↑ Adeyemi, Daniel (29 June 2021). "From Supa Strikas to Startups, Tomi Davies' approach to Angel Investing". TechCabal. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  18. ↑ Bright, Jake (5 June 2020). "Africa's top angel Tomi Davies eyes startups and co-investors". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  19. ↑ "Slim Trader Company Profile Driven By Pitch Book Platform". Pitch Book.
  20. ↑ "Harry 'Tomi Davies (TD) joins GreenTec Capital Partners as Chief Investment Officer". GreenTec Capital Partners. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  21. ↑ "How a Computer for the Poor Got Stomped by Tech Giants". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  22. ↑ "LMLG primary school gets 28 laptops, 14 tablets for e-learning". Vanguard Newspaper. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  23. ↑ "100 Bame leaders influencing the tech sector". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  24. ↑ "100 Most Influential Africans".
  25. ↑ "Startupgrind". Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  26. ↑ "Business Expert Harry 'Tomi Davies Hits Amazon Best-Seller List". Press News Room. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  27. ↑ Jackson, Tom (2023-11-16). "6 key things a founder can learn from Tomi Davies' book "Investment Worthy Startup"". Disrupt Africa. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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