Tag Archives: Charlie Graham-Brown

Q&A With Charlie Graham Brown

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Charlie Graham Brown
CFO, Seedstars World
Geneva, Switzerland

Charlie Graham Brown is the CFO of Seedstars World. He studied at the University of Leeds, UK with a year at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA and holds a Master of Engineering First Class Honors degree. He transitioned into finance following an MBA at the Collège des Ingénieurs, Paris and became a CFA charter holder. Charlie has six years of experience in innovative financial institutions. Working as an investment officer for four years at BlueOrchard Finance, he analyzed and invested in microfinance institutions across Africa, MENA and Asia. When he’s not working on Seedstars World, Charlie can usually be found in the mountains or doing a triathlon!

What advice do you give the applicants to Seedstars World?

This isn’t your typical startup competition so don’t treat it as such! We’re looking to add one Lebanese startup to our global network. Remember we invest in the top startups so we’re really interested in the traction. Get your timing right for the pitch. We’re Swiss so you know our timing will be strict!

What type of ideas would you like to see?

We like ideas that have the potential to be global (or at least regional). That’s where we can add the most value with our expansive network. As for the sector we are open. We like the diversity and if you look at the regional winners to date you will see a bit a broad coverage.

Has there been a trend towards certain industries/innovations? Are there any pitfalls entrepreneurs should be aware of?

Each region and country has had its own specialty. SaaS has been popular around the globe with services adapted to new segments or local markets. High social impact businesses have been common on our stages as we tend to cover regions with a large BOP population, which provides an interesting market where both financial and social returns can be found. FinTech startups in Africa was a clear theme and of course web/mobile startups have been well represented.

Charlie Graham-Brown – Switzerland – Seedstars

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Charlie-Graham-Brown

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.