Heshan de Silva, CEO, De Silva Group (Kenya).The De Silva Group is the holding company for DSGVenCap, a firm that makes seed investments in Kenyan entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for new businesses, with the specific aim of reducing poverty in the country. De Silva also mentors young Kenyans, sharing business success tips and personal advice.
Education
De Silva graduated from high school at the age of 16, and immediately went on to university. His parents were reasonably well-off, so they sent him to the US, where he chose the University of Miami, Florida – for its climate.
Career
Heshan de Silva, 25, is the CEO of VenCap, a venture capital fund invested in 17,000 businesses. De Silva first tried his hand at business with less than $200 and has built a multi-million dollar enterprise over the last seven years. The portfolio of companies under the De Silva Group spans various sectors including commodities, technology, renewable energy, insurance and agribusiness.
Heshan de Silva became famous after he was featured on K24’s Young Rich. People love inspirational stories and a twenty something billionaire is just the perfect bet.
For Njenga Karume’s case, we know he started by selling charcoal, we know the story of Equity bank founders, Tuskys founders etc… but surprisingly, Heshan’s story is very vague.
Apparently, he started the de Silva Group a few years ago with only $200. The version I’ve heard has it that he sold some idea to an insurance company, but I know neither the idea nor the insurance company.
He says that he invests in startups, but really not much information is out there.
According to him, DSGVenCap – the company he owns, has invested in over 17,000 businesses, none of which is known.
Here’s an excerpt from Brandkenya.go.ke
Seven years ago De Silva invested his 10 000 Kenyan shilling ($116) allowance from his parents to start a small business selling travel insurance to the poor. Going for as little as KSh5 – less than five US cents – it was bundled with long-distance bus tickets and could be bought via mobile phone. By the end of the year he had made KSh90-million, over a million US dollars.
After earning his first million, De Silva moved on to financing ingenious ideas. His DSGVenCap has so far invested in 22 000 people and has created 17 000 businesses.
After earning his first million, De Silva moved on to financing ingenious ideas. His DSGVenCap has so far invested in 22 000 people and has created 17 000 businesses. “This is the ideas sector, where you can convert ideas into viable companies.”
Today one of the youngest venture capitalists in Africa, De Silva chooses the projects carefully, and has grown the De Silva Group into one of the region’s most enterprising entities. It has holdings in commodities, technology, renewable energy, insurance, robotics, advertising, hospitality, fashion, rural road construction, hardware and agribusiness, and works with major East African corporations such as Equity Bank, Housing Finance Corp, Scanad, and East African Breweries Limited.
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Heshan de Silva
DSGVenCap invests an average of $10 000 to $15 000 in each idea, and helps the entrepreneurs it funds to execute their ideas. So far, company and its beneficiaries have created jobs for some 70 000 people.
Going through his Twitter timeline, you may be forgiven to think that motivational speaking is his full time job. From Mount Kenya University to Nailab to Hillcrest, everyone wants his services.
Several bloggers have written about how his riches story does not add up, and with his PR firm leaving him, this is getting interesting.
His story has been posted on the infamous ‘Buyer Beware’ Facebook page, with some people already branding him a ‘con man’, but I would rather not go that road until he gives his story properly. Perhaps a clear blog post will do.
Wealth
He is Kenya’s youngest dollar multimillionaire and founder of DSGVenCap, a venture capital firm that he started four years ago and which today has a net worth of almost $1bn.
Award and Recognitions
In 2008, De Silva was selected by the US Congress as one of Kenya’s Brightest Young Leaders. The university dropout seeks to use his businesses to reduce poverty in Kenya from 60% to 40% over the next five years.
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