The Côte d’Ivoire-based investment firm has announced that 11 brands will join its programme in partnership with the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM).

Among those selected were premium to luxury brands in the ready-to-wear category as well as footwear, accessories and cosmetics. Armando Cabral, (Guinea), Chez Nous (Tunisia), Endelea (Tanzania), Zyne (Morocco), Lafalaise Dion, Wibes and Renwa Yassin (Côte d’Ivoire), Pichulik, Wanda Lephoto and Suki Suki Naturals (South Africa) operate or are based in African nations. Those from the African diaspora in this year’s edition include Haiti-based Azede Jean Pierre.

The IFM-Birimian Accelerator x Africa programme offers brands 12 months of strategic and operational support, allowing them to professionalise and institutionalise their activities. “Our goal is that by the end of the programme, these brands are sufficiently structured to take off on the international scene, or receive an investment that allows them to scale up,” said Birimian Ventures chief executive Laureen Kouassi-Olsson.

Launched in 2020 by Kouassi-Olsson, Birimian Ventures inked a partnership with Paris-based private equity firm Trail Capital in 2022 to provide annual investment of €5 million (approximately $5 million) to a portfolio of high-end African brands. Last year Birimian tapped its first cohort of ten brands in partnership with IFM including MmusoMaxwell and Rich Mnisi (South Africa), Christie Brown (Ghana), Loza Maléombho (Côte d’Ivoire) and Post Imperial (Nigeria).

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