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ADVISORY · AFRICA AND THE GCC · ABU DHABI · DUBAI · LAGOS

Get the people your business depends on to act.

Investors commit, partners sign, teams execute and customers buy when the terms are right and the moment is clear. We design both. We call it Conversion Design.

Book a 30-minute callTake the Conversion Scorecard ▸

STRATEGY & INVESTMENT · PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY · BRAND & MARKET

LAGOS AT SUNSET · PHOTO: CHIBUZO NWANERI / UNSPLASH

WORK BY AXIS & SAGE AND ITS FOUNDERS
  • Venture Garden Group
  • GV Solutions
  • Farmcrowdy
  • Learning Equality · Kolibri
  • Mular
  • Earlybean
  • Nature Roots
  • Uganda Investor Summit
  • National Social Investment Programme

01 · THE GAP

Growth stalls in the gap between what a business decides, what it builds and what it says.

A board approves a new structure and managers keep deciding the old way. A product launches and customers stop at the payment screen. A raise opens and investors take the meeting, then go quiet. The decision was sound. The action never happened.

  • Investors take the meeting and don't commit.

  • Partners agree in principle and don't sign.

  • Teams nod at the plan and don't execute it.

  • Customers reach checkout and don't buy.

02 · CONVERSION DESIGN

A conversion is the action your business needs from someone. It isn't always a sale.

Conversion Design starts with that action and works backwards. People act when two things are true: the terms are right and the moment is clear. Terms are what's on offer and who decides: the price, the equity, the incentive, the authority. Moments are where the decision happens: the pitch, the screen, the conversation, the form. We design both.

What usually stops them

Terms that don't price their risk. A story that changes between the deck and the data room.

Where we'd look first

The cap table, the ask and the first ten minutes of the pitch.

Score your own in six minutes
  1. 01

    Name the action.

    We need [who] to [do what] by [when]. One sentence, agreed before any work starts.

  2. 02

    Find what's in the way.

    The terms, the moment, or both. We talk to the people who need to act and walk the path they take.

  3. 03

    Fix it.

    In the strategy, the product or the brand. We build what's needed with your team.

  4. 04

    Measure what moved.

    The baseline goes on the first page of our report. The new number goes on the last.

How Conversion Design works

03 · THE FOUNDERS

Two halves of every decision.

TERMS

IM

Ifeanyi Monyei

Co-founder

STRATEGY & INVESTMENT

Designs the terms people act on.

Governance, delegation of authority, executive and employee incentives, operating structure, partnerships and business integration. More than a decade across Venture Garden Group and its portfolio, through consulting leadership and Chief of Staff to Group Strategy & Growth.

  • Governance framework, delegation of authority, board pay policy, executive reward and employee share scheme redesign across Venture Garden Group.
  • Designed and led the merger that created GV Solutions, where she now serves as fractional COO through Axis & Sage.
  • Consulting leadership across programmes within Nigeria's National Social Investment Programme.
Ifeanyi's profile

MOMENTS

TO

Tomiwa Ogunmodede

Co-founder

PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY

Designs the moments people act in.

Products, services and brands where money, access and trust meet. More than ten years across fintech, education, hospitality and AI-assisted products, from first design hire to co-founder.

  • Farmcrowdy: first-time mobile sponsorship conversion from 18% to 60%, recorded by internal funnel tracking.
  • Co-founded Mular: $2.1M+ processed across 19K+ transactions.
  • Designed for Kolibri, a learning platform used in 220+ countries and territories.
Tomiwa's profile

Every engagement is led by one of us, and usually both.

04 · WHAT MOVED

Founded, ran, built, advised. Here's what moved.

FARMCROWDY · BUILT

18% → 60%

First-time mobile sponsorship conversion

FARMCROWDY · RAN

$1.86M → $9.14M

Tracked sponsorship volume during the product and growth period

MULAR · FOUNDED

$2.1M+

Processed across 19K+ transactions in live production

KOLIBRI · BUILT

60%

Fewer failed content imports in usability testing

EARLYBEAN · FOUNDED

3,416

Active users; Techstars '23; Web Summit Qatar PITCH top three

GV SOLUTIONS · EMBEDDED

2 → 1

iGate Advisory and Garden Ventures merged into GV Solutions

VENTURE GARDEN GROUP · RAN

Group-wide

Governance, delegation of authority, board pay, CEO reward, employee shares

SOURCES: COMPANY RECORDS AND REPORTING · FARMCROWDY CONVERSION FROM INTERNAL FUNNEL TRACKING · KOLIBRI FROM USABILITY TESTING

05 · SELECTED WORK

Who needed to act, and what changed.

CASE · 01AXIS & SAGE ENGAGEMENT

GV Solutions

NEEDED
Two firms to work as one company.
CHANGED
Merger design, operating model, and group interfaces for finance, legal, brand and technology.
MOVED
GV Solutions formed. Axis & Sage holds the COO seat.
  • EMBEDDED
  • TEAMS EXECUTE
Read the case: GV Solutions
CASE · 02AXIS & SAGE ENGAGEMENT

Nature Roots

NEEDED
Retail buyers and investors to trust a young organic-commodities brand.
CHANGED
Brand strategy, packaging system and digital identity.
MOVED
Entry into retail channels; the founder credits the work with investor confidence and new partnerships.
  • ADVISED
  • PARTNERS SIGN
  • INVESTORS COMMIT
Read the case: Nature Roots
CASE · 03AXIS & SAGE ENGAGEMENT

Uganda Investor Summit

NEEDED
International investors and policymakers to see Uganda as a regional capital hub.
CHANGED
Event strategy, stakeholder mapping, investor narrative and identity.
MOVED
A narrative that, in the client's words, resonated with local policymakers and international investors.
  • ADVISED
  • INVESTORS COMMIT
Read the case: Uganda Investor Summit
CASE · 04PRINCIPAL TRACK RECORD

Farmcrowdy

NEEDED
City professionals to sponsor farms they would never visit.
CHANGED
The first-time mobile sponsorship flow, and farm updates in text, photo and video from planting to harvest.
MOVED
First-time mobile sponsorship conversion from 18% to 60%.
  • BUILT
  • RAN
  • CUSTOMERS BUY
Read the case: Farmcrowdy
CASE · 05PRINCIPAL TRACK RECORD

Mular

NEEDED
Senders and businesses to trust a stablecoin-to-Naira transfer with real money.
CHANGED
Rates and fees shown before commitment; clear settlement states and recovery.
MOVED
$2.1M+ processed, 5,400+ users, 80+ business accounts.
  • FOUNDED
  • CUSTOMERS BUY
Read the case: Mular
CASE · 06PRINCIPAL TRACK RECORD

Venture Garden Group

NEEDED
Executives across a pan-African group to decide at the right level and be rewarded for the right things.
CHANGED
Governance framework and delegation of authority, board pay, CEO reward, employee share scheme.
MOVED
One written way of deciding across the group.
  • RAN
  • TEAMS EXECUTE
Read the case: Venture Garden Group

All work

What clients say

“Axis & Sage's work was quick, high quality, and completely transformed our brand, making it both beautiful and highly functional. The team was professional and communicative even under crushing deadlines. We couldn't be happier with the result — it gave our investors confidence and unlocked new partnerships.”
Kunmi DemurenFounder, Nature Roots
“Axis & Sage has been a thought partner in the truest sense. They see beyond design into the heart of business strategy — aligning brand, structure, and execution seamlessly.”
Bunmi Akinyemiju
Bunmi AkinyemijuGroup CEO, Venture Garden Group
“Their frameworks for brand and product positioning have consistently given our portfolio companies the edge in competitive markets.”
Temi Olateru
Temi OlateruInvestor

06 · HOW TO START

Start with one sentence. Know the price before we start.

Investor Readiness Sprint

Quoted on a 30-minute call3 weeks

For founders and CEOs raising. We cover both halves:

  • The terms: cap table, share scheme, data room, valuation logic.
  • The moment: narrative, deck, investor list and process.

Portfolio Review

Quoted on a 30-minute call4 weeks

For investors and groups. The Diagnostic run across three companies, with one report for the board.

Engagements and pricing

07 · LIBRARY

Free tools for the decision in front of you.

SCORECARD · 6 MINFREE

Conversion Scorecard

Who isn't acting, and is it the terms or the moment? Six minutes.

Take the Scorecard
CALCULATORNGN · USD · AED

What's a lift worth?

Put a number on moving the needle, for customers, investors or your team.

Open the calculator
BUILDERFREE

Delegation of Authority Builder

Who can approve what, up to which limit. Download the matrix.

Build the matrix
CALCULATORFREE

ESOP & Share Pool Calculator

Pool size, dilution, vesting and what a grant is worth.

Open the calculator
CHECKLIST · 25 CHECKSFREE

Investor Readiness Score

Twenty-five checks investors will run on you. See your gaps first.

Check your readiness
OUTLINE · 12 QUESTIONSFREE

Pitch Deck Outline

Answer twelve questions and get a twelve-slide outline.

Start the outline

Who needs to act?

Tell us in one sentence. We reply within one working day with a clear next step.

Who needs to act, what they need to do, and by when

Book a 30-minute call