Henrik Persson Ekdahl
Founder
Henrik founded Oakvale Invest. A Swedish technology entrepreneur and investor, he brings decades of company-building experience and a long-term view to backing young African AI founders.
The people behind Oakvale
Meet the team
A family’s capital. A builder’s perspective.
Herman Ekdahl
Investment Associate
Herman works across strategy, investing and brand. He is building Oakvale alongside his father, Henrik, with a focus on finding ambitious founders and helping their companies take shape.
Portraits and public biographies: Oakvale Invest.
A wider circle of experience
Meet our advisors
Perspectives from AI, public leadership and company-building.
Shaun Dippnall
Advisor · AI & data science
Shaun founded ExploreAI and is Chief Delivery Officer at Sand Technologies. An actuary, entrepreneur and former McKinsey consultant, he has spent more than a decade helping organisations turn AI and data science into practical solutions to business problems.
Mynard Slabbert
Advisor · Governance & law
Mynard is a publisher, author and former Executive Deputy Mayor of Stellenbosch. He holds an advanced master’s degree in Air and Space Law from Leiden University, bringing a perspective shaped by public leadership, governance and the legal frameworks behind complex industries.
Henrik Persson Ekdahl
Founder & advisor · Entrepreneurship
Henrik is Oakvale’s founder and a Swedish technology entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded Optimizer Invest and has built and scaled businesses including Betsafe. His experience spans company-building, investment and supporting founders as they turn early ambition into enduring businesses.
Backgrounds: Sand Technologies and the advisors’ LinkedIn profiles. Portraits: Sand Technologies, Stellenbosch Municipality via NovaNews, and Oakvale Invest.
Rooted in family. Built around founders.
A direct line. A long-term view.
Oakvale is family-backed. We bring patient capital and practical involvement to the beginning of a company, when conviction matters and there is still so much to figure out.
We want to understand the problem you see, the work you have already done and why you are the person to build the solution.
Let’s start a conversationFor founders
Show us what you’re building.
A working product. A real problem. A founder who sees it differently.
Apply to Oakvale