Charlie Graham-Brown
CFO, Seedstars World
Geneva, Switzerland
Seedstars World CFO, Charlie Graham-Brown, has six years of investment and analytical investment experience in innovative financial institutions primarily focused on developing countries. He studied at The University of Leeds (UK) with a year at the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), where he secured a Master of Engineering First Class Honors degree. He later got an MBA at the Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris then became a CFA charter holder. Now working at Seedstars World, Charlie manages business development and the investment fund.
Seedstars, the parent venture firm, is a business development and investment fund management for startups and investors focused on emerging markets. They wanted to identity startups in emerging markets that they could invest in and started the Seedstars World Competition, as a method to scout out startups from around the world.
Seedstars World is a global startup competition being held in 35 emerging cities around the world this year, and is crucial since they also offer startups from different areas exposure to European and U.S. investors. It is a great way for venture capitalists to scout for potential investments from emerging markets. The 35 winning startups will make it to the global competition in Geneva, Switzerland where they will spend 3 days at a workshop to work on their pitch, then compete for a $500k investment from Seedstars.
The final showdown happens in front of a panel of European investors, which earned last year’s laureates an additional $6M investment.
Seedstars has truly been uplifting startups in emerging markets, providing them with global exposure, the opportunity to find financiers on a global scale, and a real chance to compete in much larger markets. For the entrepreneurs, the risks are a lot higher, but so are the potential rewards!
All in all, Charlie has spent most of his post-academic life empowering the global startup ecosystem and is far from done. Seedstars is expanding every year and has just made its way into Lebanon for the first time.
