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 VC model (17:57) Unconventional founder moves in nascent markets
(20:34) Unhealthy obsession: psychological cost of succeeding in VC?
References:
COTU Ventures - https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/26/cotu-ventures-launches-54m-fund-for-pre-seed-and-seed-startups-in-mena/
Beco Capital - https://alphapartners.com/news/2017/01/beco-capital-supporting-technology-revolution-middle-east/
Huspy - https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/entrepreneurs/uae-based-proptech-startup-huspy-raises-us37-million-in/431307
Kitopi - https://www.kitopi.com/post/kitopi-announces-415-million-series-c-funding-round
Listen on all platforms:
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheRallyCapPodcast
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3vUDH5yEH6pvRkqM1TVaxS
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rally-cap-podcast/id1731710244
Where to find Amir:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirfarha/
Where to find Kyane:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyanekassiri/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyanekassiri
Learn more about Rally Cap: https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/05/rali_cap-gets-backing-from-global-vcs-and-launches-30m-fintech-fund-for-emerging-markets/
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