Beyond books
Publishing, fintech, clean energy, agritech, health and logistics. Entrepreneurs and business founders from four continents on companies, challenges and the books that shaped how they build.
01 · Lagos, West Africa · Lead interview
A two person imprint became a pan African catalogue. Adaora breaks down the unit economics of independent publishing, the year she almost closed, and why turning down venture money kept the books honest.
Adaora Nwosu
Founder, Harmattan House
140
titles published
02 · Audio · Copenhagen
Founder, Fjord & Fable Studios
Scaling a boutique audiobook studio into a global brand without losing the small room sound that made it work.
900k
monthly listeners · Northern Europe
03 · Software · Singapore
Founder, Chapter & Co.
What running bookstores taught her about building software that shopkeepers actually open every morning.
1,200
bookstores served · Southeast Asia
04 · Audiobooks · Nairobi
Founder, Baobab Media
Building audiobooks for a continent that listens, one recording booth and one translator at a time.
31
languages recorded · East Africa
05 · Fintech · Lagos
Co-founder & CEO, PayRidge
Payment rails for informal markets, and the book that convinced him cash was a design problem rather than a habit.
2.1M
monthly transactions · West Africa
06 · Clean Energy · Stockholm
Founder, NordGrid Renewables
Community owned wind cooperatives as a business model, raised from neighbours instead of a fund.
4,000
citizen shareholders · Northern Europe
07 · Agritech · Bengaluru
Founder & CEO, TerraTrace
Satellite data for smallholder farmers, and how you price a product for customers who earn four dollars a day and still keep churn under two percent.
380k
farmers served · South Asia
08 · Fashion & Textiles · Cairo
Founder, Nile Threads
Export grade Egyptian cotton sold direct to the customer, cutting four middlemen out of a supply chain that had not changed in sixty years.
14
export markets · North Africa
09 · Food & Agribusiness · Mexico City
Co-founder & COO, Mercado Verde
A cold chain network for small farms, and the routing maths that cut spoilage by forty percent and made fresh produce profitable at scale.
40%
less food waste · Latin America
10 · Healthtech · Osaka
Founder, Kotoba Health
Telemedicine for Japan's ageing regions, and the years spent earning the trust of seventy year old patients before earning any revenue.
92
rural clinics · East Asia
11 · Edtech · Johannesburg
Founder & CEO, SkillForge
Vocational training that employers actually pay for, flipping the tuition model so hiring partners fund the classroom instead of students.
87%
graduate placement · Southern Africa
12 · Logistics · Hamburg
Co-founder, FrachtPilot
Digitising Europe's mid size freight forwarders, and what it takes to sell software to an industry that still runs on fax and phone.
1,400
forwarders onboard · Central Europe
Tell us about your company, your book or both, and our producers will be in touch.
