The other day, during a visit with our team, we got talking about what truly makes a business “investable.” Not just in theory—but here in Kenya, with real people, real pressure, and real opportunity on the line.
We weren’t sitting in a boardroom. We were in a small workshop where the smell of metalwork and hot tea mingled in the air. The founder, a soft-spoken guy in his early thirties, was walking us through his growth journey—how he started with one machine, took a loan from his cousin, and now employs over 15 people from the neighborhood.
At some point he said, “You know, I’m not just trying to make money. I’m trying to make a difference.”
That stuck with me.
Because so often in this work, we assume capital is neutral. That as long as the business model checks out, everything else will fall into place. But the kind of capital we offer—and the posture we bring with it—shapes everything. It influences how they approach risk, how a founder hires, how they treat their suppliers, how they sleep at night.
At Kua Ventures, we’ve walked with entrepreneurs who carry both vision and burden. They want to scale, yes—but not at the cost of cutting corners or sidelining their values. They ask hard questions: Can I stay true to my values and faith in this market? Can I grow this thing and still keep my word to my people?
Those questions aren’t weaknesses. They’re signs of leadership that run deeper than ego.
That’s what we call redemptive capital at Kua Ventures. It’s not just an investment approach. It’s a way of saying: we see your whole story—not just your profits. We care about the families that rely on your payroll. The interns you’re mentoring. The elderly mama selling you her produce every week.
We’ve seen what happens when capital meets conviction. Factories built from scratch in forgotten counties. Young employees trained not just in skills, but in confidence. Businesses that survive the storms not because they had perfect plans, but because they had partners who stayed.
It’s not flashy, and it won’t land you on the cover of Forbes. But it is deeply transformative. Redemptive capital asks, how can we invest in ways that restore rather than extract? It says no to exploitative terms and yes to dignity, sustainability, and shared success.
Still today in Kenya and across the continent, we continue to see the lack of transparency and collaboration where the investment conversations continue to be as transactional as ever. No risk but lots of return. There’s pressure to scale fast, exit faster, and prioritize valuations over values. But there’s another way.
When we partnered with a woman-led food processing business in Ngong three years ago, the founders told us up front: “We’re not looking for an investor who wants to flip this business. We’re looking for someone who’ll help us grow while keeping our promises to the farmers we buy from.” That struck me. Because promises like those often get lost in the boardroom.
We said yes.
Today, that business has tripled its capacity—not just because of our capital, but because we built trust, offered mentorship, and respected their purpose. Their team still buys from the same group of women farmers, pays them fairly and on time, and has even launched a financial literacy program for their children.
That’s what redemptive capital looks like: it leaves people better than it found them. It gives power back to the founder, honors the value chain, and takes the long road—not the shortcut.
As investors, we need to ask ourselves tough questions. Are we creating more pressure or more purpose? Are we crowding out the very vision we claim to support?
Because capital is never neutral. It either builds or it breaks.
At Kua Ventures, we’re choosing to build.