2ndBase is the expansion partner for venture-backed fintech, payments, marketplace and consumer-internet companies entering Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Founded by André de Wet, who launched iflix in 8 African markets in 6 months, built and exited PriceCheck, and wrote the Vodacom super-app strategy that became VodaPay.
Markets: South Africa · Nigeria · Kenya · UAE · Saudi Arabia · Malaysia · Indonesia · Philippines
The playbook that got you to Series A doesn't survive contact with Lagos, Jakarta or Riyadh. Payments work differently. Regulation moves differently. Talent, distribution and trust are built differently — and differently again in every market. Most companies discover this the expensive way: a hired country manager, a year of runway, and a quiet retreat.
The companies that win these markets don't figure it out from scratch. They borrow the scar tissue of people who already have.
Go/no-go analysis on your target markets. Entry sequencing, cost-to-launch model, regulatory and payments landmines, competitive map, and the first ten introductions you'll need. You leave with a board-ready expansion plan — or a well-reasoned decision not to go.
Start with an auditWe operate as your CEO, CMO or GM in-market. Entity setup, first hires, launch partners, commercial deals, marketing that fits the market. Your team learns by doing it alongside us. When we hand over, it's to your people, running a working operation.
Talk about fractionalEnd-to-end launch ownership with skin in the game. We take part of our compensation in equity or milestone-based success fees, because we only want to launch things that work.
Discuss a launchYour portfolio companies will look at Africa, Southeast Asia and the Gulf in the next 24 months — some because the growth story demands it, some because their board does. We work with venture funds on an annual retainer. One relationship; every portfolio company de-risked before they spend.
2ndBase was founded in 2018 by André de Wet. He built PriceCheck into Africa's largest price-comparison marketplace and exited in 2015, then, as Head of Africa at iflix, launched 8 African markets and hired 85 people in 6 months, raised $20m and was part of the core team on the $133m Series D.
His roots are in payments: business development at PayU (Naspers) and CEO of T24 Global Issuance in Singapore, where he built a Visa and Mastercard card-issuing business across Southeast Asia. He mentors founders at Endeavor South Africa, Techstars and Founder Institute. André on LinkedIn →
The 2ndBase network is made up of operators who have run P&Ls, hired teams, signed telco and payment deals, and shipped product in these markets — not consultants who've written reports about them.
We don't send you a hundred-page study. We get on planes.
In 2013, at PriceCheck, André's team built one of the first barcode-scanning shopping apps in Africa and it was named mobile app of the year internationally, beating 150,000 other entrants. It drove almost no downloads. Reaching a million users took another year and the better part of a million dollars.
That lesson has shaped every launch since. The product that wins an emerging market is rarely the best one — it's the one that reaches people through a channel they already trust.
What worked in New York or London does not transplant. Local players in Asia copied, perfected and then overtook the incumbents who assumed it would.
These are low-trust environments — with users, partners, regulators and banks alike. Borrowing trust from telcos and established media beats building it from scratch.
On one launch, three quarters of traffic came through mobile web rather than the app we'd paid to get installed. Data costs money and handsets run out of memory.
Adapted from André de Wet, “Distribution Trumps Innovation: How To Win In Emerging Markets” — Forbes Business Council, July 2021
The Readiness Audit: which markets, in what sequence, at what cost, with which risks. Board-ready in three weeks.
We operate in-market as your team, with your team — entity, hires, partners, commercial deals, launch.
Your people run it. You're 24–36 months ahead of where you'd be doing it alone.
Took UBU from concept to a funded, operating digital-commerce platform: built the leadership and delivery team, shipped the core platform, and drove merchant acquisition across the South African market — earning the SME Southern Africa award for Best Customer-Focused Solution.
Brought in to answer one question: what should Vodacom look like in the super-app era? We researched the global super-app landscape, mapped the mobile-commerce opportunity, built a working MVP, and presented to the Vodacom Board. The go-to-market model was accepted in full and incorporated into Vodacom's national mobile commerce strategy — the direction that later evolved into the Alipay-powered VodaPay super-app.
As Head of Africa, set up iflix's African operation from Cape Town: a subscription streaming service launched in 8 African markets in 6 months, with 5,500 hours of content live at launch, localising content, payments and telco partnerships market by market. Negotiated the Kwezé-iflix joint venture with Econet in Zimbabwe, iflix's first major African telco partnership.
Advised one of South Africa's largest health and beauty retailers on its digital strategy — including how to build subscription into the existing online offering as a recurring-revenue and loyalty engine.
Engaged by global advisory firm YCP to deliver a local market study for their client BMI: Africa planning, roll-out sequencing, and a clear go/no-go recommendation on expansion.
→ This is our Expansion Readiness Audit, delivered.
Companies we've built, launched or advised
2ndBase is an expansion partner for venture-backed companies entering Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It is run by operators rather than analysts: founder André de Wet built PriceCheck into Africa's largest price-comparison marketplace, launched iflix in 8 African markets in 6 months, and wrote the Vodacom super-app strategy that became VodaPay. Engagements start with a 3-week, fixed-fee readiness audit or an executive in-market for 3–6 months.
Start with a go/no-go and sequencing decision, not a hire. Payments, licensing and trust work differently in each market, and the winners usually borrow distribution from telcos, banks and established platforms instead of building it from scratch. The 2ndBase Expansion Readiness Audit covers entry sequencing, a cost-to-launch model, regulatory and payments risks, a competitive map and the first ten introductions you will need.
Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. 2ndBase is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Three weeks, for a fixed fee. You get a go/no-go analysis on your target markets, entry sequencing, a cost-to-launch model, the regulatory and payments landmines, a competitive map and the first ten introductions you will need: a board-ready expansion plan, or a well-reasoned decision not to go.
Yes. The Fractional Expansion Executive engagement runs 3–6 months on a monthly retainer. 2ndBase operates as your CEO, CMO or GM in-market (entity setup, first hires, launch partners, commercial deals) and hands over to your own team once the operation is running.
Every engagement is scoped, priced and time-boxed. The Readiness Audit is a fixed fee. The Fractional Expansion Executive is a monthly retainer. A Full Market Launch (6–12 months) is a retainer plus equity or milestone-based success fees. Venture funds pay an annual portfolio retainer.
Yes. Funds retain 2ndBase annually as an emerging-markets partner across their portfolio: quarterly expansion reviews, office hours for founders weighing new markets, priority engagement rates when a company is ready to move, and an operator on call.
Selected work: UBU International ($10m seed secured, core platform in 9 weeks, 7,000+ merchants, 380 apps launched in 2020); a Vodacom super-app MVP whose go-to-market model the Vodacom Board adopted in full; an Africa go/no-go study for BMI via YCP; and digital strategy for Clicks. André also led iflix's launch in 8 African markets.
André de Wet is the Cape Town-based founder and CEO of 2ndBase and the founder of Flood. He was CEO of PriceCheck (exited 2015), Head of Africa at iflix, Head of Business Development at PayU and CEO of T24 Global Issuance in Singapore. He mentors at Endeavor South Africa, Techstars and Founder Institute and writes for the Forbes Business Council.
Book a 30-minute call at calendly.com/2ndbase or email hello@2ndbase.co. No deck required: bring the markets you are weighing and the timeline your board is asking about.
Thirty minutes, no deck required. Bring the markets you're weighing and the timeline your board is asking about — we'll tell you honestly whether and how we can help.