Michiel Botman
Managing Director
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- Full Name
- Michiel Botman
- Title
- Managing Director — CFRO (Chief Financial & Risk Officer) and Co-head of Investments
- Firm
- Veris Investments BV
- Firm Type
- Independent impact / private-equity investment company (equity and mezzanine investments) — *not a personal angel investor, despite some aggregator listings*
- Investment Stage
- Growth-stage / long-term equity and mezzanine commitments (not typically seed)
- Check Size
- Not publicly disclosed
- Target Company Profile
- Competitive private-sector businesses operating anywhere along the food value chain — agricultural inputs, primary production, processing, logistics/storage, wholesale and retail
- Sector Focus
- Food and agribusiness / food value chain (aquaculture, dairy, animal feed, processed foods)
- Geographic Focus
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Location
- Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Background
Michiel Botman is a Managing Director at Veris Investments, an Amsterdam-based investment company he co-founded in 2013 together with Juliette de Wijkerslooth. At Veris he serves as CFRO (Chief Financial & Risk Officer) and Co-head of Investments, splitting responsibility for the firm's investment activity while overseeing its financial and risk functions. He has been the investment lead on Veris's holdings in Yalelo Uganda and Kamimbi Aqua Feed, and has been involved across various stages of the firm's other portfolio investments.
Before founding Veris, Botman was a Senior Investment Officer in the private equity team of FMO, the Dutch development bank, where he focused on Africa. His earlier career spans a mix of finance, consulting and infrastructure investing: he worked at BNP Paribas, PwC and IBM, and at African infrastructure fund manager AIIM (African Infrastructure Investment Managers). This combination of development-finance, corporate-finance and Africa-focused fund experience underpins Veris's model of hands-on, long-term investing in African food businesses.
Botman holds an MSc in Business Economics from the University of Amsterdam. He is based in Amsterdam, where Veris is headquartered.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests through Veris Investments, which makes equity and mezzanine investments in companies and projects along the food value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa (stated on the firm's site).
- Backs competitive businesses in the private food sector and makes long-term equity commitments rather than short-hold trades.
- Willing to invest across the entire food value chain — agricultural inputs, primary production, services, infrastructure, logistics, storage, processing, wholesale and retail.
- Acts as an active partner to management on strategy and operations, consistent with an impact-oriented, hands-on ownership style (Veris is described as a "Dutch impact investor").
- Botman personally leads investments in aquaculture and animal-feed businesses (Yalelo Uganda, Kamimbi Aqua Feed), reflecting a comfort with integrated, supply-chain-spanning agribusinesses.
Notable Investments
- Yalelo (FirstWave Group) — Fully integrated tilapia aquaculture business; Yalelo Zambia (founded 2011) spans the full value chain from feed and breeding to distribution and retail. Majority-owned by management and Veris.
- Yalelo Uganda — Ugandan arm of the Yalelo/FirstWave aquaculture group; Botman was the investment lead.
- Kamimbi Aqua Feed — Aquaculture feed producer; Botman was the investment lead.
- Holland Dairy — Ethiopian dairy company producing yoghurt, Gouda cheese, milk and butter for the local market.
- Mapinga Premium Foods — Food processing/production business in the Veris portfolio (Tanzania).
- Sun Chips — Snack/processed-foods business in the Veris portfolio.
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