The build-up of a successful startup ecosystem is often propelled by the inclusion of Venture Capital đź’°Â funding during the early stages of startup fundraising, and this is due to the extensive range of value-adding services established VC's provide to help their continued growth.
With the staggering investment amount of 💲1Billion brought in by venture capital into the MENA market in 2020, it's a tipping point for new investors and startup founders to realize that VC funding is still prevailing despite the hard economic situations seen worldwide. The year of 2020 in fact pulled in strategic inputs from investment capital globally to be more sophisticated while deploying capital.
Last November, the consumer popular money-exchange house, Western Union, acquired a 15% stake in Saudi e-wallet STC Pay for $200 million, valuing the company at $1.33 billion, and this is another notable acquisition story after Careem's acquisition by Uber in 2019 💥
đź’Ľ Step Anywhere 2021 welcomes Venture Builders from around the World!
While venture funding along with the resources and access to capital is always magnetizing to young Startups, some seasoned companies reaching substantial scale also run into obstacles and may underperform, so its key to always stay in the loop of the most recent venture developments around the world and what we can learn and share from them. We are happy to invite some seasoned venture investors to share their experiences and join in roundtables to offer stark-quality entrepreneur mentorshipÂ
at Step Anywhere 2021 👇
1. Zach Finkelstein, Managing Partner at Class 5 Global, has a background as a VC investor and operator focused on emerging markets. Zach was previously the VP of Corporate Development at Careem where he oversaw several acquisitions, divestments, and fundraising. Zach also played a role in the launch of several new markets and business units. Prior to that, Zach was at Lumia Capital where he focused on Lumia’s emerging market portfolio including such investments as Careem, CargoX, and Shedul.
2. Matthew Salloway, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SIP Global Partners, an international performance venture fund focused on global technology companies and anchored by a top five telecommunications company. His experience also includes serving as the CEO of a top 50 Global family office, having a focus on venture capital and cross-border business development for portfolio company market expansion to the MENA region. He is also a successful film producer with some of his credits including: Lee Daniels’ The Butler, starring Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker; The Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling; and War with Grandpa, starring Robert De Niro.
3. Romain Diaz, Founder & CEO of Satgana,a global Venture Builder on a mission to launch and fund startups addressing the biggest social and environmental problems of our times. Previously, Romain was CEO & Co-Founder of Far Ventures, a pioneering Venture Studio on the African continent. He has 8 years of experience founding, building, investing into, advising and exiting a range of businesses, mostly through Venture Builders with a focus on emerging markets.
4.Kareem Elsirafy, Managing Partner at Modus Capital, is a seasoned entrepreneur and investor with extensive strategic and operating experience in early-stage tech. Having dedicated over two decades of his career toward technological solutions for business and social complications, Kareem believes in the power of technology to drive positive returns for social impact and business initiatives.
We've just extended Super Early Bird tickets for Step Anywhere 2021.Â
Check out the ticket prices and get the cheapest single ticket for Step Anywhere now!Â
