Sunday, July 01, 2007
Soros Economic Development Fund
Long-time readers of ZS know I have an enormous amount of respect for George Soros. So, I was thrilled when I was invited to a dinner with him in New Delhi last December. We had a wide-ranging chat about everything India, from human rights to the small/medium enterprise sector. However, the piece de resistance came a few weeks later when I was invited to join the board of the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), a $140 million fund (in assets), dedicated to catalytic investments in emerging markets.
I formally joined the board in late-January and it's been an exciting ride since, with my SEDF colleagues Fawzia and Neal. We conducted a very useful SME workshop at the Indian School of Business, mostly to discuss financing issues bedeviling the SME sector. Based on the output of our various discussions in India, we are in the process of scouting some extremely exciting opportunities in India, the details of which I cannot reveal just yet, but will do so in the coming months. We are also exploring similar initiatives on the African continent, for which my TED adventure proved extremely useful.
Finally, I am in New York currently to attend the SEDF board meeting and structure the India initiative. I know I am missing a lot of people this time around, mostly because I am using my New York stay to slow down a bit. However, if any of you are in New York and would like to meet, email me and let's see if we can work something out. I will also be in Paris and Reykjavik this coming week and in the Bay Area the week after (week of the 9th), so if any of you would like to meet, give me a shout.
I formally joined the board in late-January and it's been an exciting ride since, with my SEDF colleagues Fawzia and Neal. We conducted a very useful SME workshop at the Indian School of Business, mostly to discuss financing issues bedeviling the SME sector. Based on the output of our various discussions in India, we are in the process of scouting some extremely exciting opportunities in India, the details of which I cannot reveal just yet, but will do so in the coming months. We are also exploring similar initiatives on the African continent, for which my TED adventure proved extremely useful.
Finally, I am in New York currently to attend the SEDF board meeting and structure the India initiative. I know I am missing a lot of people this time around, mostly because I am using my New York stay to slow down a bit. However, if any of you are in New York and would like to meet, email me and let's see if we can work something out. I will also be in Paris and Reykjavik this coming week and in the Bay Area the week after (week of the 9th), so if any of you would like to meet, give me a shout.
