Clarus, a growth and go-to-market (GTM) advisory firm, is positioning itself to help early-stage startups in Africa avoid one of the most common and expensive causes of failure, poor go-to-market execution.
Founded by Victor Ekwealor, Clarus works with startups to design, execute, and internalise repeatable GTM systems that enable consistent customer acquisition, retention, and revenue growth.
The firm says it targets companies that have built viable products but lack the structure needed to scale distribution and sales.
“The reason Clarus exists is that typically, this kind of skillset or capacity is hard to come by,” Victor Ekwealor, Founder and Managing Partner at Clarus, told Techpoint Africa. “People or teams that can do this are usually too expensive, especially in the context of emerging markets.”
What Clarus Does
Clarus operates on a three-stage engagement model. The firm co-builds GTM strategies with startups, executes those strategies, and then transfers the playbooks and skills to the startup’s internal team. The goal is not long-term dependency, but capability-building.
When startups engage Clarus, the process begins with a full GTM diagnostic. This includes assessing the market’s size, maturity, and demand drivers, alongside a detailed analysis of direct and indirect competitors, alternative solutions, and incumbent players.
Rather than acting as a long-term outsourced growth team, Clarus focuses on transferring knowledge and systems to in-house teams. Startups leave engagements with documented playbooks, execution roadmaps, and trained teams capable of running GTM independently.
A core part of Clarus’ work involves defining a startup’s ideal customer profile (ICP), clarifying positioning, and building structured acquisition and retention funnels. The firm also helps founders distinguish early traction from true product–market fit. The aim is to help founders understand where their product truly fits and how it can defend that position.
Why Startups Are Turning to Fractional GTM Services
Ekwealor has spent over a decade embedded in Africa’s startup ecosystem, first as one of its earliest technology journalists and later as a builder, operator, mentor, and advisor to hundreds of founders. Clarus, he says, is a direct response to a recurring problem he could no longer ignore.
“Startups don’t fail or struggle because of a lack of marketing,” Ekwealor said. “They struggle because of a lack of repeatable processes.”
Clarus is entering the market at a time when capital is tighter and investor scrutiny has increased. Since 2022, rising interest rates have forced investors to prioritise efficiency, unit economics, and execution discipline over rapid, unstructured growth.
According to Ekwealor, investors are now asking harder questions around acquisition costs, retention, and growth sustainability, areas where many early-stage startups struggle to provide clear answers.
In that environment, fractional GTM services offer startups access to senior growth expertise without the cost of full-time hires, allowing teams to build systems before scaling headcount.
Beyond One-Off Startup Engagements
While Clarus currently operates as a services business, it is expanding its reach through Clarus Growth Labs, a model designed to work with investors, accelerators, and startup studios.
Through the Labs, Clarus embeds GTM expertise earlier in the venture-building process, helping multiple startups develop structured growth foundations at once. The approach is aimed at reducing failure rates across portfolios rather than fixing problems after they emerge.
Although much of its work to date has focused on technology startups, Clarus says its services are industry-agnostic. Any early-stage business struggling with distribution, sales, or growth systems can benefit.
Clarus is intentionally focused on Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa, markets where access to experienced go-to-market talent remains limited and where execution gaps can quickly stall otherwise promising companies.
Talking Points
It is impressive that Clarus is tackling one of Africa’s most common and costly startup challenges: weak go-to-market execution, which often prevents promising products from scaling.
This focus positions Clarus as a practical solution for early-stage founders, especially those in Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa, where access to experienced GTM talent is limited.
At Techparley, we see how services like Clarus can accelerate startup growth by providing structured, repeatable processes for customer acquisition, retention, and market positioning, rather than relying on trial-and-error experiments.
By building GTM strategies, executing them, and transferring knowledge to in-house teams, Clarus enables startups to operate with the same discipline and efficiency as more established companies, without the cost of hiring full-time senior growth staff.
However, there’s still room to expand its reach and impact. Success will depend on how well Clarus can adapt its model to different sectors, markets, and stages of startup maturity, while maintaining affordability for resource-constrained founders.
As Clarus scales, there is an opportunity to deepen its footprint through partnerships with investors, accelerators, and startup studios, embedding GTM thinking early in the venture-building process. With the right strategic approach, Clarus has the potential to significantly reduce the failure rate of startups in emerging markets.
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