Venture Capital in Developing Markets

What does it take to grow entrepreneurial ecosystems in the developing world? The talk will share some lessons from our experience at Alter across 14 markets in SE Asia and Africa. Specifically, the talk will focus on three aspects of early-stage entrepreneurship in such markets: (i) thin capital markets and the implications for early stage companies and ventures; (ii) the demand-supply gaps in the high-skill labor market (and the role of the diaspora); and (iii) the potential for using a network-based sourcing and investment model within small, dense ecosystems. // Interview recorded on October 25, 2019. In this Speaker Series podcast, CID Student Ambassador Valeria sits down for a discussion with Ozair Ali, co-founder and COO of Alter Global - a network of tech entrepreneurs across emerging cities in the world. Ozair works with entrepreneurs to provide them with access to talent and capital. Ozair has previously worked at the Central Bank of Pakistan and at CID at Harvard University. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and an MPA/ID from Harvard University. Podcast edited by Charles Hua '22

Om Podcasten

Incredible progress has been made throughout the world in recent years. However, globalization has failed to deliver on its promises. As problems like unequal access to education and healthcare, environmental degradation, and stretched finances persist, we must continue building on decades of transformative development work. The Center for International Development (CID) is a university-wide center based at the Harvard Kennedy School that seeks to solve these pressing development problems—and many more. At CID, we believe leveraging global talent is the key to enabling development for all. We teach to build capacity, conduct research that guides development policy, and convene talent to advance ideas for a thriving world. Addressing today’s challenges to international development also requires bridging academic expertise with practitioner experience. Through collaborative, in-country partnerships, CID’s research programs, faculty, and students deploy an analytical framework and context-dependent approaches to tackle development problems from all angles, in every region of the globe.