Laureen Kouassi-Olsson does not fit the traditional image of a venture capitalist — and that is precisely her power.
As the founder of Birimian Ventures, she has positioned herself at the intersection of capital, culture, and long-term value creation, backing African fashion and lifestyle brands not as trends to be exploited, but as institutions to be built.
In an ecosystem where creative talent has long outpaced access to structured funding, Kouassi-Olsson is helping rewrite the rules of who gets financed and how.
Her path to investment leadership was anything but linear.
With a background that spans private equity, strategy, and brand advisory roles at global institutions, including experience with firms such as Canal+ and Emerging Capital Partners, Kouassi-Olsson developed a deep understanding of how capital moves and, more importantly, where it often fails to reach.
That insight became the foundation for Birimian, a venture firm created to address a persistent gap in Africa’s creative industries: promising brands with cultural relevance, but limited access to patient, strategic capital.
Founded in 2018, Birimian Ventures was conceived as more than a fund. It is a hybrid platform offering equity investment, strategic guidance, and operational support to high-growth African fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands.
Kouassi-Olsson’s thesis is clear: Africa’s creative economy is not a soft sector. It is a scalable, export-ready industry capable of generating both financial returns and cultural influence.
Her early bets on brands such as Orange Culture, Lisa Folawiyo, Kenneth Ize, Wuman, and Maki Oh signaled a new seriousness about African fashion as a business, not just an aesthetic.
What distinguishes Kouassi-Olsson’s approach is her insistence on structure. She pushes founders to professionalize operations, clarify governance, and think globally without erasing local identity.
Her impact extends well beyond portfolio companies.
Kouassi-Olsson has become one of the most influential advocates for Africa’s creative economy on global stages, challenging investors, policymakers, and development institutions to reconsider outdated perceptions of fashion and culture as peripheral sectors.
She speaks fluently in the language of both creatives and financiers, translating cultural value into investment logic, a skill that has made her a trusted voice in global conversations around emerging markets and alternative asset classes.
In 2020, Birimian expanded its vision with the launch of the Birimian Circular Fashion Fund, reinforcing Kouassi-Olsson’s belief that sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive.
By supporting ethical production, local manufacturing, and responsible supply chains, she has positioned African brands not as followers of global sustainability trends, but as leaders rooted in inherently regenerative practices.
At its core, Kouassi-Olsson’s work is about reframing power. She is building financial infrastructure that allows African creatives to retain ownership, scale responsibly, and participate fully in the global fashion economy on their own terms.
In doing so, she is also redefining what venture capital looks like in Africa: less extractive, more collaborative, and deeply attuned to context.
As global interest in Africa’s creative industries accelerates, Laureen Kouassi-Olsson stands out for having done the work long before the spotlight arrived.
Her vision is patient, her strategy deliberate, and her impact quietly transformative.
