When Falgu Shah, Ken Toyoda, and Ruzgar Barisik met at the World Bank / International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2014, we could scarcely have imagined that 10 years later, we would be building our own investment firm together.
In many ways, we have evolved: the millions of miles accumulated, the thousands of company decks dissected, the hundreds of meals shared, the dozens of conversations that altered our course – they all tend to have that effect – but fundamentally, we are the same people, united by a passion to affect positive change in traditionally overlooked markets.
Along with Christopher Schroeder, we launched Next Billion Capital Partners in 2019 with the simple belief that investing in emerging markets – where availability of capital falls far short of the rapidly growing needs of local companies and the populations that they serve – yields alpha, both financially and societally.
In particular, we focused on technology and the digital economy – Chris, given his background as a repeat technology entrepreneur, and the three of us, having helped create the technology investment practice at IFC.
Our first investment vehicle, which came together in the height of a global pandemic, was our proof-of-concept: 16 early-stage investments that span our target regions of Southeast Asia, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America and include such notable companies as Minu (Mexico) and Bazaar (Pakistan).
Now, celebrating 5 years of Next Billion Capital Partners, we are inspired more than ever by our mission of powering inclusive and sustainable growth in emerging markets and are joined by a growing team of aligned investors and operators from all over the world.
Please look out in the coming weeks for a few announcements, as well as more detail on what we do, who we are, and what continues to drive us. And as always, please do reach out – we are always excited to discuss ways to serve the Next Billion!
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