CEO Anu’s brilliant cosmopolitan business, EFi Hub, aims to mentor, guide and create financial opportunities for start-ups in the developing and emerging markets – effectively in Asia and Africa. The sharp businesswoman explained she wants to: “replicate the interactive buzz of Silicon Valley” for the other, often forgotten, side of the globe. “A significant USP is that EFi Hub not only brings together a global network of entrepreneurs, top professionals and potential investors to help small businesses develop in their nascent business environments, but speaks to government intermediaries such as respective governments to influence investment policies and infrastructure,” Anu elaborated. “Essentially, we help grow businesses by not only connecting them with world-class expertise, but closing the gaps in the investment policy infrastructure of a country, which allows foreign investors to enter more easily.” Here, Anu gave the example of her work in Rwanda, one of the many countries where she has worked across her vast and varied business career, to explain that in order to grow one of her current projects, a payment transfer company called Mergims – a now widely used online platform, expanding to all East African countries by mid-2018 – the CEO Louis Antonie had to first get the state to acknowledge the concept of a Fin-Tech company to begin with. Mergims is then a bona fide disruptor; not only digitally driving monetary exchange but forging the field to which it belongs.” This is apt from a British perspective with a report that was published by EY in 2016 confirming that the UK came first in government policy when it came to accommodating FinTech hubs. “We also support an online learning, educative tool in Kenya called DigiSkool” Anu proudly added. “90% of capital is that which flows through the US, Japan and China, and these people are your potential investors. It is important to have a system that incorporates enterprises from all sectors. Small businesses are the backbone of national economy: if the latter is healthy so too will be the social impact. This eventually reforms the community and creates a better quality of life.”
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Anu’s desire to technologically collapse the distance between the traditionally consumerist and production spheres of the world comes from a very poignant place of having had to reconcile two unequal parts of her early self; her initial level of confidence and incredible vision and ambition. “I actually started off working in a call centre, going door to door to sell products in India,” she shared. “It was an action I had to take to prove that I could be financially independent and autonomous. As a woman it was expected of me to be self-effacing and submissive, and I had to work hard to fight that stereotype and prove I could be financially independent against all the odds. I actually lived in a Chawl, a working-class residence, at the time next to taxi drivers and maids. As you know the class divide in India is immense, and this made me very self-conscious, especially when I was being watched by the beady eyes of these seedy men who would pass through. But being self-sustaining was important to me, and I was driven. I learnt fast and soon rose to the position of product manager. From there, I’ve had the pleasure of working across 4 continents and 7 countries in M&A, Strategy consulting and Private Equity, all of which were highly male dominated professions. I was the only female amongst all investment professionals in the PE fund that I was working in. I will always be a strong advocate of gender equality and gender pay parity – a subject close to me. The biggest obstacle in the business world has also been being a subject of gender bias and prejudice. I’ve had promotions snatched away from me because my boss has said: ‘you’re just going to get married and become a mother…’ Indeed, explicitly righting an uneven gender playing field, a third significant SME nurtured by Anu in Africa is the popular Women’s Bakery. “The business involves women from the rural parts of Africa, including teaching those who are illiterate. I am also working with a non-profit organisation called Inkomoko to establish a mentorship and training program for women in the refugee camps of Rwanda." Thus, Anu powerfully shows us how long-term vision and step-by-step goals can combine to provide a solid formula for growth. “I remember when I first thought of EFi Hub,” the tech crusader aptly added. “It was at Harvard when I realized how privileged I was and how far I’d come - to have been blessed with these brilliant opportunities of learning from few of the world’s best faculties and extremely enterprising students. That instilled the urge to give back to society.”One of Anu’s first financial backers – and classmate from Harvard University - includes African politician Lavan Gopaul.
Tell us a bit more about how you help individual SMEs thrive?
From my experience as a Private Equity professional, I have seen that it is relatively easy for A-list entrepreneurs (typically starting from IIT, IIM or Harvard) to leverage the alumni connections and build a network of mentors, investors and industry professionals. The same incentive is not applicable to the entrepreneurs who are not from Ivy League schools. But these entrepreneurs may still have a great business or product idea that can drive the social innovation and change on a large scale in the society. Through EFI Hub I want to empower and ensure that such businesses can be sustained.
Your name is very digital; do you only want to support online businesses?
Though we are largely sector agnostic, we have realized that highest action in Asia and Africa is in tech space, with huge traction in other sectors such as clean energy, education, health care and tourism, especially in Africa.
Was it difficult bringing eminent Harvard, Oxbridge and established members of society into the fold?
Though we grew organically, in some ways it was easier to build a network of Harvard Alumni and existing students while I was at the school. That original list of the board of advisors eventually attracted a bigger pool of people. At the end of the day it’s also about the strength of the idea. If you have a good investment or business opportunity, people want to listen.
Is it good to take risks?
I have always made very obscure and bold choices. The higher the risk, the higher the reward is my motto.
Finally, what are the key elements of creating a strong SME?
A solid business idea which is localised and customised to the market. Also, due diligence in your research and paying careful attention to the business detail, market landscape, competition environment and lastly numbers. What is most important is that one needs to think globally but act locally. An entrepreneur has to be extremely realistic and thorough with the sales figures in their niche area. Most importantly, follow your intuition.
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