TLP Advisory, a Nigeria-headquartered legal firm focused on Africa’s tech industry, today announced its expansion into the UK, US and Canada. Having worked with many of the continent’s rising technology companies, including Flutterwave and PiggyVest, TLP Advisory’s expansion will position the law firm as a key conduit between the continent’s technology companies and leading investor markets, enabling smoother capital flows between the regions and providing African entities with dedicated advisory around international fundraising and regulation in Lagos, London, New York and Toronto.
Established in 2014, originally under the name The Longe Practice, TLP Advisory has widened its capabilities to include the tech, media and entertainment industries, specialising in intellectual property, fundraising, and corporate structuring. Strengthened by its merger with US-based law firm, Ollis Law and registration with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the UK, the team now expertly guides African companies through navigating complex international regulatory hurdles and complying with corporate governance laws in global markets. TLP Advisory’s niche market experience and multi-territory expertise makes this journey far easier for founders embarking on expansion.
Africa’s tech industry is projected to be worth $180bn by 2025. During 2020 there was 44% year-on-year growth in African startup fundraising, with 359 equity raises totalling over $1.4bn. TLP Advisory has been central to this progress and has advised some of Africa’s groundbreaking startups along with VC funds such as Ventures Platform. As the first startup and venture law firm in Nigeria, TLP Advisory has seen 300% year-on-year growth and supports angel investors, VC funds, corporates and investment banks across additional markets such as South Africa, Ghana and Kenya, and now the UK, US and Canada.
To support the growing and varying needs of its clients, TLP Advisory launched DIYLaw, its self-service legal tech platform, in 2015. DIYLaw recently introduced a digitized, B2B dashboard which is a first of its kind in Nigeria, simplifying many of the processes required by Africa-focused entrepreneurs to set up and operate smoothly. The platform makes access to legal services simple and affordable through bulk functionality and smart API integrations with partners such as Prospa and Access Bank. DIYLaw automates over 20 activities such as company registration, employee documentation and non-disclosure agreements based on location and sector, reducing the legal administrative burden for growing startups.
“It is truly an exciting time in the African tech space, with some of the startups we worked with just a few years ago now on course for immense growth in and outside the continent”, said Odunoluwa Longe, Co-founder and Lead Counsel at TLP Advisory and Co-founder at DIYLaw. “We are thrilled to continue to offer a purpose-built legal services infrastructure to sustain the incredible trajectory of African startups through our on-ground expert services. We want to be the partner of choice for innovative African companies expanding overseas and international companies looking to protect and commercialise their intellectual property on the continent.”
“We’ve really evolved alongside the continent’s accelerating tech ecosystem and as a firm we’ve facilitated $400m of investments over the past five years,” added Funkola Odeleye, Corporate-Commercial Lead at TLP Advisory and Co-founder at DIYLaw. “We’re expanding and scaling but retain our personalised and tailored approach to giving clients the best guidance in often difficult regulatory environments. This takes into account how innovation moves faster than regulation, and by creating a robust services sector we can ensure that clients operate without being in breach of existing regulations and are able to comply during complex cross-border operations.”
Demonstrating further commitment to the sector, TLP Advisory were engaged as one of the two legal firms to draft the Nigerian Startup Bill, intended to become a one-stop shop for laws and regulations affecting entrepreneurs in the market. Their international expansion signals the continued growth of the African tech space, demonstrating the firm is well-positioned to support companies and investors in new markets.
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