Laureen Kouassi-Olsson
Franco-Ivorian investor and executive operating at the intersection of private equity and Africa’s creative economy. Founder and CEO of Birimian, an operational investment company dedicated to African luxury and premium heritage brands. Previously: M&A in London (Lehman Brothers), development finance (Proparco), and private equity across Africa (Amethis).
African luxury, fashion and premium heritage brands can compete globally, but scaling requires institutions: governance, capital, production capacity and distribution.
Laureen Kouassi-Olsson created Birimian to build this missing layer—combining operational investment, patient capital, and partnerships that connect African brands to financing and global ecosystems.
The core idea: make heritage brands investable by building cash discipline, production depth and market access.
Key Numbers
Selected public data points (rounded).
Based on publicly available information from Business of Fashion and Birimian partnership communications.
The Story
Private equity discipline applied to Africa’s creative economy.
Laureen built her finance career across transactions, development finance and private equity with a focus on Africa. She then applied these capital frameworks to a sector historically underserved by structured financing: African heritage brands.
Birimian operates as an operational investment company: capital plus hands-on support to strengthen governance, production readiness, working capital management and distribution strategy.
Ventures
Key platforms and partnerships.
Birimian
Founder & CEOOperational investment company dedicated to African luxury and premium heritage brands. Combines capital, operational support and ecosystem partnerships.
Birimian x Trail Capital
Strategic investment partnershipPartnership announced in 2022 to invest at least €5 million per year in African luxury houses and premium emerging brands, along with operational support and international bridges.
Contribution to Africa
Building the missing infrastructure behind African premium brands.
Signal
Verified and curated from publicly available sources including Business of Fashion and Birimian’s partnership communications.
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