Episodes
Amir Farha is a prominent figure in MENA VC. Having previously co-founded the first and largest early-stage VC firm in the region [BECO Capital, $500m AUM]. Timestamps: (1:49) Building a second VC firm (3:02) What does 'strong founder' even mean? (4:29) Investing in underdogs (6:15) Aren't we all improvising? (7:05) The evolution of Amir 1.0, Amir 2.0, Amir 3.0 (11:18) Aren't VCs just monetizing access? (13:26) Raising $50m as a solo-GP (15:16) KSA/UAE/Egypt, too many startups, beyond the...
Published 08/06/24
Tamer Azer is a partner at Shorooq Partners, a prominent VC firm in MENA. Timestamps: (1:12) Finding your true investor self (4:30) Building reputation in a new geography (6:21) Is Egypt gonna recover, startup-wise? (9:31) Breaking down fintech models via P&L items (10:50) Why infra/API plays are tough to build in the region? (13:27) The 'western vs. local' VC disagreement around lending (16:56) The void venture debt funds aren't filling (18:29) Climatetech: too early for the...
Published 05/16/24
Published 05/16/24
Johan Bosini is a partner at Quona Capital, a $800 million pan-emerging-markets fintech VC firm. Timestamps: (1:58) Quona overview in numbers (4:05) Imposter syndrome and self-assessment (5:08) Investing in LatAm vs Africa: different mental models (8:07) Lose-lose situation: too many VCs backing a model/space (10:38) Africa & LatAm: similar [but delayed] growth trajectories (12:49) Do not expand across continents! [for most startups] (13:49) Fintech 1.0, Fintech 2.0, Fintech 3.0 (17:21)...
Published 04/04/24
Enrique Martinez-Hausmann is a principal at Speedinvest, a €1 billion European VC firm, with a stellar track record in Africa, the Middle East, and emerging markets at large. Timestamps: (1:54) Speedinvest's key success factors in emerging markets (5:54) Portfolio winners, in numbers (7:14) Using a different lens for emerging markets vs. Europe (9:18) Embracing lending models while others shy away from it (11:18) Funding predatory lenders? (13:26) Raising debt in emerging markets (15:26) The...
Published 03/16/24
Omair Ansari is the co-founder and CEO of Abhi, one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in South Asia and the Middle East. Timestamps: (1:36) Quick background on Omair and Abhi (2:32) Abhi's performance in numbers (4:12) Dirtiest MVP and figuring out the market need (6:12) Early Wage Access is a tax on the poor? (08:19) The moment when numbers went exponential (11:58) Does SME lending scale? (13:34) Key factor for a successful market expansion (15:44) Preferring mercenaries over...
Published 03/03/24
Lexi Novitske is a General Partner at Norssken22, who just launched Africa's second-largest VC fund. Timestamps: (1:05) How to raise a $205m fund during a global downturn (3:50) Current growth stage valuations and how to deal with unreasonable prices (5:38) Growth deals that require restructuring (9:44) Debt requirements for growth-stage companies (11:28) Norrsken's thesis in financial services (13:27) Thesis behind investing in Shara (14:18) Overfunded fintech models (15:53) Thesis behind...
Published 03/03/24