As a global emerging market fund investor, we evaluate more than 200 VC/PE fund proposals per year across Africa, Latin America, and South/Southeast Asia, and work closely with a global network of 16 fund managers we have invested in. I have found that recycling provisions could be better understood and better utilized across the industry by both […]
Venture Capitalists Beware: Here’s What Not To Share With Potential LPs
Quality limited partners will respect your boundaries on what you don’t share prior to their commitment to enter full due diligence on your fund. Recently, in a first meeting with an institutional LP, I was asked “How are you exactly allocating the fund’s carry amongst the team?” I responded, “We would be happy to share important details on this […]
Why management fees for emerging-market VC funds should be predictable
The traditional private equity-birthed model for management fees does not align interests for limited partners (LPs) and general partners (GPs) for emerging market venture capital and early-growth PE funds that are under $100 million. As a global emerging market fund investor, we evaluate more than 200 VC/PE fund proposals per year across […]
Tiered Carry Creates Alignment Where Hurdle Rates Fail
Current models employing customary hurdle rates for sub-$100 million emerging market PE/VC funds create perverse incentives that misalign GP/LP interests. A senior leader at an emerging market institutional investor told me recently: “When I started managing our private equity portfolio a few years ago, every fund was pitching 2% management […]
Bridging the Gap: Training the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets
As investors, we know that the opportunities in emerging markets like India, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa are astronomical. Just last year, Indian impact startups raised over $1 billion of investment capital, and that amount is expected to skyrocket globally to $300 billion by 2020. If we look at the private sector as a whole, global […]
The Art of the Fund Preview
How to get LP feedback on your fund, prior to active fundraising Some of the first questions we ask a fund manager seeking investment from us are – How much capital commitment do you have and from whom? Where do you expect to get the rest of your capital? Some of the less exciting responses we’ve heard are – “I haven’t started […]
Top 10 Success Factors for Fund Management Teams in Emerging Markets
Insights from our research and experience of working with fund managers in emerging markets 9 out of 10 people who want to be fund managers won’t raise a fund. The odds are against you. We like to compare fund management to being a decathelete – you have to be very good at ten (actually many more) really complicated and hard things if you […]
Practice what you Preach: New Fund Managers are Startups Too!
Many investors forget that new fund management teams are also startup firms; we need to approach them with frameworks similar to other fast-growth, lean startups There is a huge opportunity for investing in entrepreneurs in emerging markets. A key missing ingredient is the lack of organized early- and growth-stage risk capital managed by […]
Capria Attracts Interest from over 100 Aspiring Fund Managers
Capria Attracts Global Interest from Aspiring Fund Managers across Six Continents to Participate in Accelerator for Impact Fund Managers Interest from over 100 aspiring fund managers looking to address the “missing middle”; World-class experts and advisors commit to support the effort; Applications close 31st October. San Francisco, CA, at SOCAP, […]
Capria Launches the First Global Business Accelerator for Impact VCs
Investing in and supporting 40 entrepreneurs setting up early-stage impact venture funds; Leveraging Unitus’ 15 years of experience accelerating financial services startups. Seattle, WA, September 8, 2015 – Capria announced today the launch of Capria Accelerator, the first global business accelerator for impact VCs. Capria will invest in, support […]
Top Challenges for New Fund Managers
First time fund managers have some unique and significant challenges When I met with hundreds of LPs to pitch them on our first fund, Unitus Ventures (formerly Unitus Seed Fund), one of the largest obstacles was the fact that we were “first-time fund managers.” We had years of relevant experience with: Personal angel investing Participating in fund investment […]
