Out of Country: Recent Episodes
David Gaynor & Quratul-Ann Malik
Founded in 2017, Re:Coded's vision is to bridge the digital inequality divide by giving anyone, anywhere a chance to join and thrive in the digital economy. To date, Re:Coded has trained thousands of youth in technology skills in immersive bootcamps, online courses, and workshops across four countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Ali is originally from Australia where she started her career as a lawyer - working at the intersection of criminal law and human rights. She then moved to New York where she worked for NYU, UN etc before Co-Founding Re:Coded in the US.
Tekwane Mwendwa, or Tek, as his friends call him, founded Asilimia, a mobile payments company based in Nairobi, but with ambitions to expand across Africa. Tek was born and raised in Nairobi but has traveled around the world seeking investment and growth opportunities. He is a serial entrepreneur with ten years of experience in capital raising, team mobilization, and business development. Extremely passionate about equity, underemployment and disruptive business models that lead to businesses that are inclusive and respectful of context.
In this, our second episode of Out of Country, we interview, Paul Breloff, an expat founder who’s launched companies in India and Kenya, and advises for startups around the world. Paul is one of the founders of Shortlist, a talent matching and employability platform serving East Africa and India. Before founding Shortlist, Paul launched Accion Venture Lab which invests in early stage companies advancing financial inclusion, largely in the developing world. Between all this and advising other startup founders, Paul has a ton of experience as an entrepreneur and expat of various countries.
Some of the most interesting things to listen for are his story, what led him to grow his company from India to East Africa, and the challenges/opportunities that exist in those different cultural environments.
This is our first episode of Out of Country, a podcast where we interview founders of international businesses. In this episode, we interview Kalsoom Lakhani. Kalsoom is the Founder and CEO of Invest2Innovate, a Pakistan-based accelerator for startups. She was one of the first people to see the opportunity for foreign investment Pakistan as the founder of the country’s first female-led fund.
In addition to that, she goes all over the world training entrepreneurs and changemakers, AND she has spoken at the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and beyond.
Some of the most interesting things to listen for are her story, what inspired her to start I2I and the opportunities/challenges that exist when doing business in a country like Pakistan. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it for you!