Just a month after exiting Nigerian fintech Lemfi at a 29x return, Silverbacks Holdings — a Mauritius-based private investment firm — has completed a partial divestment from Lagos-based startup Omniretail, delivering a fivefold return on capital.
- •Founded in 2019, Omniretail digitizes informal retail supply chains across West Africa and has emerged as one of the continent’s fastest-growing companies.
- •Its revenue surged by more than 71,000% in three years, reaching over US$120 million in 2023.
- •Omniretail recently raised US$20 million in Series A funding and processed more than 1.3 trillion Naira ($810 million) in transactions last year.
“This 9th exit is another validation of our long term strategy and reaffirms the exceptional calibre of entrepreneurs we support. Inevitably, Silverbacks’ crop of founders will be at the forefront of Africa’s next generation of global brands,” Ibrahim Sagna, Executive Chairman of Silverbacks Holdings, said.
The PE firm’s exit from Omniretail forms part of a broader partial exit program. Nigerian exits have averaged a 10.7× multiple on invested capital (MOIC) and 81.5% internal rate of return (IRR), while Egyptian exits have returned a 9.7× MOIC and a 339% IRR. Fintech investments lead the portfolio with a 13.7x MOIC and a 91.9% IRR.
Silverbacks has expanded its presence in sports and entertainment through investments in African Warriors Fighting Championship and South Africa-based sports-tech company NERGii. The firms 14 core portfolio companies, which include Wave, Moove, Flutterwave, and the Cape Town Tigers basketball team, have a combined valuation exceeding US$10 billion.
The transaction was disclosed at the Bloomberg African Business Media Innovators (ABMI) 2025 event held in Livingstone, Zambia.
