It is important for Janade du Plessis to start from the beginning, recounting the time, the imagery and the vibe of the vibrant, sandy, sprawling Cape Flats area to the east of Cape Town where he grew up in South Africa.
It is important for the co-founder of Launch Africa Ventures and Five35 Ventures – two companies prominent in the venture capital (VC) space in Africa today – to start with his mother.
Based in ‘Mother City’ Cape Town, he is close to the subject – and memories of a childhood that inescapably defined his future.
Those experiences have been invaluable, in traversing the continent and adding value to the lives of entrepreneurs – especially women – in Africa’s deepest pockets.
He has traveled to 50 of the 54 African countries, his bio states, but there are things you cannot include on your résumé – such as the beads of sweat and the tears of entrepreneurship that an itinerant life can bring.
But the 40-plus Du Plessis isn’t complaining, he is used to the hustling. It was in his past, and he sees it in his present, in the many people and startups he hopes to turn around on his travels.
“I come from a family of female entrepreneurs, so the first six years
