Inside Capital Partners

Inside Capital Partners

Inside Capital Partners was founded by Managing Partner Jerome Lagesse alongside Partners Rushil Patel and Basil Nundwe, operating from offices in Mauritius, Zambia, and Madagascar. The firm deploys dedicated private equity funds into small and medium-sized enterprises across southeast Africa, targeting businesses that combine profitable operations with measurable environmental or social outcomes. The firm uses a mix of buyout, growth, and late-stage expansion capital, writing checks into companies that hold dominant positions in narrow domestic markets. Its disclosed portfolio spans industrial manufacturing, renewable energy, and the circular economy. Confirmed positions include Kalulushi Clay Bricks, Zambia's oldest and largest clay brick manufacturer; Technopet, Madagascar's sole PET preform manufacturer; Reneworld, a solar energy provider active across Southern Africa; WeCycle, Mauritius' leading recyclable waste collector; and Alpha, Zambia's largest collector of post-consumer PET waste. The firm also backs Latitude Hotels, a boutique business hotel group with regional ambitions. The geographic footprint concentrates on the Southern and East African corridor — primarily Mauritius, Zambia, and Madagascar — with a stated intent to replicate proven business models in adjacent markets. Inside Capital reports USD 30.5 million in total committed capital across seven investments. The firm maintains additional offices in Antananarivo and Lusaka, supporting on-the-ground due diligence and portfolio operations. The three named partners — Lagesse, Patel, and Nundwe — form the core investment committee. The firm publishes an external grievance mechanism and emphasizes ESG integration across its portfolio, citing sustainability and ethical governance as operational requirements rather than marketing points. What separates Inside Capital from larger pan-African PE funds is its deliberate focus on sub-scale, asset-heavy industrials that require hands-on operational turnaround. The firm enters markets where a single manufacturing plant can represent a national supply chain — PET preforms for Madagascar's bottlers, clay bricks for Zambia's construction sector — and deploys capital at check sizes that are too small for the global mega-funds but too operationally intensive for most impact lenders. This niche sits at the intersection of private equity, industrial development, and resource-efficiency investing in economies where the distinction between a financial sponsor and a strategic operating partner collapses.