Barthout van Slingelandt is Managing Partner at XSML Capital. XSML is a fund manager investing in Small and Medium sized businesses in Central and East Africa.

Barthout’s responsibilities include overseeing XSML’s portfolio of some 50 investments. He has over 20 years of experience in corporate restructuring and general management, in emerging markets, Europe and the US and is investor in several technology SMEs. Previously, at Citigroup he carried P&L responsibility and restructured its SME lending business in Poland. Before, at Alvarez & Marsal (corporate turnarounds), he was instrumental in restructurings in manufacturing and telecoms and starting up A&Ms Benelux offices and at Arthur D Little (strategy consulting) he served as engagement manager. Barthout holds a Master’s in Law from Leiden University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Olu Oyinsan is an Emerging Markets Seed-stage Investor and Managing Partner at Oui Capital- an early-stage VC fund investing in promising technology companies in frontier markets, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before launching Oui Capital, Olu started his career in commercial banking with Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank, later working as a TEI Consultant at Forrester, a global market research firm advising some of the biggest technology companies. He also worked at Silicon Valley Bank’s early-stage practice supporting early-stage tech companies across the east coast of the US. He holds an MBA from Hult International Business School, Boston with a concentration in Finance and Strategy.

Johannes Gunnell joined Maris Capital as a partner in 2010. Following Maris Africa Fund’s conversion into an investment holding company in 2014, he became interim CFO for Maris Ltd. He now sits as the Commercial Director of Maris Ltd and is responsible for new investments.

Previously, he spent seven years at UBS Investment Bank working in global equites. Johannes had a particular focus on socially responsible investments and was involved in the listing of various renewables companies, including the largest European IPO in 2008, EDP Renovaveis.

Maris is an operationally focused investment holding company and has started up or turned around 16 out of 18 of its businesses. It has investments in eight African countries; Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Angola, DRC, Rwanda and South Sudan. Maris actively invests in four key strategic divisions; Property Services, Business Services, Mining, and Agriculture and Forestry.

Maris Africa Fund was one of the top performing funds in Africa with a 24% net IRR. Since transformation to a permanent capital vehicle in 2014, Maris Ltd has both increased NAV and significantly outperformed stock markets and currencies.

Johannes sits on the board and heads the audit committee of Tatepa, a listed Tanzanian tea and avocado producer, Untu, a Zimbabwean microfinance business and EFG Hermes Pakistan, a listed investment bank. Johannes graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford.