- April 24, 2023
EPISODE #
#51 Basil Moftah on navigating a down cycle as an Egyptian VC
About this episode
Startups across the globe are reckoning with a down cycle as a result of the overall macro economic environment and some practices that were long romanticized by Silicon Valley – such as growth at all cost – that have led to bloated startups with a high cash burn and a long path to profitability.
I speak to Basil Moftah, General Partner at Nclude, a Venture Capital firm based in Egypt about the impact of the global environment on local startups. We also discuss the challenges that Egyptian startups are facing as they experience spiraling inflation in their own country. How are resilient entrepreneurs and the overall venture capital industry navigating this down cycle and what are some of the lessons learned?
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guest profile
Basil Moftah
Basil is an experienced company builder and General Partner at include, a venture capital firm that enables start-up success in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Building networks between the East & West is central to his approach. This entails creating synergy with industry veterans and founders. Basil draws on his experience as a senior executive to create a winning formula for scaling growth. Experience, coupled with strong global bonds and intimate knowledge of the science and tech sectors comprise his technique.
Earlier in his career, Basil was a founder member of the Reuters Venture Capital group, investing in Netscape, Yahoo!, Verisign, Webex, and several other leading global companies. Basil then managed emerging markets for Reuters: A $600M business spanning Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Russia, India and China. He grew the business seamlessly and made numerous strategic acquisitions. His approach included buying Zawya, a trusted source of business and financial news. The company plays a critical role in providing insights into the Middle East. Basil subsequently scaled Zawya for significant growth.
Basil’s last role was at Thomson Reuters where he served as President of the Intellectual Property and Science business. He was responsible for developing the strategic proposition of the $1billion revenue business. His strategy worked in line with customer, market and competitive trends. Upon strategic execution, he prepared the division for sale to private equity which took place in 2016 for $3.55B. As a member of the Senior Executive Committee, he contributed to the overall direction of Thomson Reuters.
Basil is an advisor, investor and board member at numerous global technology companies. Basil holds a bachelors’ degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University in Cairo and an MBA from Harvard Business School.