Birimian Ventures, a Cote d’Ivoire-based investment company launched last year to help African luxury and heritage brands grow their businesses regionally and internationally, has partnered with the European private equity firm Trail Capital.

The new partnership is two-fold, with the Paris-based firm that has invested in companies like APM Monaco and Wella initially providing financing to Birimian to support the company’s ongoing investment in African brands.

The second phase of the partnership will be the creation of a long-term investment company co-managed by Birimian and Trail, which will invest at least €5 million ($5,428,725) each year in a select portfolio of brands.

According to a statement released by the firms, the first investment is expected by year-end. Birimian founder Laureen Kouassi-Olsson described this approach to funding as more flexible than private equity.

”Brand building and development sits at odds with the constraints [of private equity], and we also understand that brands and designers need more than just financing to sustain their operations – they need access to an ecosystem to overcome common issues such as bottlenecks in production, distribution channels, and administration and budgeting challenges,” she said.

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