27. Building the Ecosystem for Impact Startups in Underserved Markets w/ Sonia Bashir Kabir, CEO of SBK Tech
Building the ecosystem for impact startups in underserved marketsAccording to the Global Impact Investing Network, more than US$900mil of impact capital had been deployed by non-Development Finance Institutions into Southeast Asia over a 10-year period under study. In comparison, South Asia has more than double the population of Southeast Asia, but saw only around US$823mil of impact investments.Given that India attracted more than half of the impact investments in South Asia, how do we characterize the funding situation for impact-driven startups elsewhere in the region? How do investors look to Southeast Asia for support and inspiration to draw in more capital for the emerging South Asia countries?In this episode of the Investor Series, join me, Theodore Pang, Senior Investment Manager of SEEDS Capital, as I speak with Sonia Bashir Kabir, CEO of SBK Tech. Sonia started SBK Tech Ventures in Bangladesh in 2017 and has invested in 38 startups since then. Her new VC fund, SBK Tech, was recently set up in Singapore to focus on technology inclusion in underserved markets.So stay tuned, as I interview Sonia on how VC funds can go beyond financing to support the startup ecosystem, why she believes social impact and commercial scale go hand in hand, and her views on catalyzing investments into some of the more underserved markets by leveraging Southeast Asia’s position as a VC hub.