Our Story
Rooted in Africa. Built for the World.
Mission
We Exist to Unleash Africa's Entrepreneurial Potential
WealthPot was founded by on a simple belief: Africa's greatest untapped resource is its founders. From Accra to Nairobi, Lagos to Cairo, there is no shortage of brilliant minds tackling real problems with innovative solutions on the continent and in the diaspora.
What is missing is the infrastructure. The capital, the networks, the operational knowledge to take those ideas from zero to scale. WealthPot Ventures exists to be that infrastructure. Through WealthPot Ventures, a venture studio, we co-build companies from inception, providing not just funding connections but deep strategic and operational partnership.
Our goal is to de-risk African ventures from ideas to inception to proof of concept or validation to make them attractive investments. This will increase the success of both founders and investors catalyzing the venture ecosystem and network.
Explore the Studio
Our Principles
What We Believe
Africa First
Every decision is grounded in the African context — our markets, our people, our unique opportunities.
Founder-Led
We back people, not just ideas. Character, resilience, and vision are the qualities we invest in first.
Operational Depth
We do not just write cheques. We roll up our sleeves and build alongside our founders.
Long-Term Thinking
Generational wealth creation requires patience. We measure in decades, not quarters.
Leadership
The Team
Profile Bio
Dr. Charles K. Danso obtained his Ph.D. at 28 from FAU. He currently serves as Associate Finance Professor at Cal State LA. He has been in finance over a decade with experiences at all levels of tertiary education from teaching to creating curriculum for Bachelor’s Master’s and doctorate. He has expertise in finance domains from corporate finance, valuations & financial modelling, capital budgeting, multinational finance, personal finance, and fund management & equity research.
He has led and developed curriculum as instructor for different modes (in-person and virtual). He is scheduled to become Lead of the Geller Student Managed Investment fund with real dollar amount ($200K+). He has also led finance instructional facilitating at LEEAF, an accelerator program in Los Angeles focusing on SMEs. In addition, he was founding team that developed program curriculum and established the Financial Fitness Program at Cal State Los Angeles presenting where he facilitated several workshops.
His expertise in these areas have led to mentoring and coaching several student teams in national competitions serving as faculty advisor of FMA Student Club. Competitions include public company valuation and investment research challenge held by Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) society, private business valuation by American Society of Appraisers (ASA), and company valuation by Financial Management Association (FMA) in New York.
His background has led to media mentions in LA Times (2021). His research expertise in finance lies in stock return predictability, investments, bank and corporate restructuring (M&A, asset carveouts, spinoffs, etc.), lifecycle, corporate finance, network theory, teaching pedagogy, valuations. Despite publication focus in mentioned areas, he has actively worked in arbitrage, credit ratings and scoring reliability, corporate diversification, valuations, incentive structuring, disaggregation studies and many more. He is a 7+ time startup founder for US & African ventures. Each one bringing different skills and insights. He also has extensive consulting experience.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Finance
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) · 2018
Thesis: Two Essays on An Examination of Life Cycle Effects and Firm Policies
Master's in Business Administration
University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) · 2014
Thesis: An Examination of G10 Carry Trade pre and post 2008 crisis
Bachelor's in Business Administration (BBA) in Finance
University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) · 2013
Minor: Honor's College
Thesis: The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the signaling effects of Dividend Payout
Financial Planning Certificate
UC Berkeley · 2019
CETL Certificates (Tech, ALT Instruction, Teaching Project, Designing Online Class)
California State University, Los Angeles · 2018-Present
Designing Your Blended Course (DYBC)
Quality Matters (ACUE) · 2018
Graduate, Student Leadership Academy
University of Texas, Pan-American (UTPA) · Feb 2011
Associate Finance Professor
Cal State LA · 2018 - Present
CEO | Founder
Thrugh Platforms Ltd. · 2024 - Present
Manager
WealthPot · 2023 - Present
Competition Mentor/Coach
California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) · 2023-Present
Faculty Advisor
Financial Management Association (FMA), CSULA · 2019-Present
Reviewer
3+ Peer Academic Reviewed Journals · 2016-Present
Get On Our Radar
Founder Interest List
Not ready to apply yet? Join our interest list and share your pitch deck. We'll reach out when the right opportunity opens up.
Get In Touch
Let's Consult
Whether you are a founder looking to apply, an investor interested in co-investment, or a corporate partner or professional seeking collaboration, we would love to hear from you.
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Contact via form
General enquiries
+1 (323) 818-9933
Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm EAT
For Founders
Apply directly through our Studio application page for the fastest response.
Apply to the StudioJoin Our Community
Connect with founders, investors and ecosystem builders in our network.
Join Community ↗