Brown Girls, Money Moves

Record-Breaking Pre-Seed Round, Capital-Efficient Growth: How Orca Is Reshaping African Fintech

Risk, venture capital, and the fintech landscape look fundamentally different in Silicon Valley than in South Africa, and Africa's tech ecosystem is rapidly growing. So let's learn from the pros: Thalia Pillay, alongside co-founder Carla Wilby, launched Orca [https://www.orca-fraud.com/] to fight against emerging market fraud, and their pre-seed round for an all-women team was the largest across the continent. One of their backers was Norsken22 [https://www.norrsken22.com/], a tech growth fund backed by more than 30 unicorn partners. Today, Bhargavi sits down with Thalia Pillay of Orca and Nivesh Pather of Norsken22 to discuss the importance of being capital-efficient (and how valuable that is for investors, too), the advice to just "stay in it" as a woman entrepreneur, and a primer on the VC and tech landscapes in the African ecosystem. Brown Girls, Money Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Henah Velez is Executive Producer, with video support from Amanda Wan. Theme music from Indo Warehouse. Watch on Youtube:  — 💌 Want more about angel investing, South Asian female founder stories, and belonging to a community that builds and funds Brown girl businesses? Find us on all social platforms @browngirlangels.

This Co-Founder Interviewed 1,000 Banking Pros Before Launching Her Fintech Company

Would you interview 1,000 prospective customers about their pain points and ideas, before launching your business? That's exactly what Kobalt Labs [https://www.kobaltlabs.com/] co-founders, Ashi Agrawal and Kalyani Ramagurdam, did. Less than two years later, they closed a $11m round, led by the former Managing Partner at YC Continuity and founder of First Harmonic [https://www.firstharmonic.com/], Ali Rowghani. Today, host Bhargavi Varma is joined by both Ashi Agrawal and Ali Rowghani to discuss the power of pivoting, knowing your target market's pain points, investing in your partner over an idea—and how to grow a startup beyond the sapling stage to avoid "where death lurks." Brown Girls, Money Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Henah Velez is Executive Producer, with video support from Amanda Wan. Theme music from Indo Warehouse. Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/uJAtv3DyAc8 [https://youtu.be/uJAtv3DyAc8] — 💌 Want more about angel investing, South Asian female founder stories, and belonging to a community that builds and funds Brown girl businesses? Find us on all social platforms @browngirlangels.

Anyone Can Be an Investor: Why Democratizing Access is Key for Nitya Subramanian & Maya Bakhai

Welcome back to Season 2 of Brown Girls, Money Moves with Bhargavi Varma! Today, we're talking to Nitya Subramanian, the founder behind blockchain leader Para [https://www.getpara.com/], and her investor Maya Bakhai of Spice Capital [https://www.spicecapital.xyz/], who's also backed by the likes of Marc Andreessen and Alexis Ohanian. We're covering everything from how anyone can become an angel investor, to why democratizing access isn't just good ethics—it's good business. Brown Girls, Money Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Henah Velez is Executive Producer, with video support from Amanda Wan. Theme music from Indo Warehouse. Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/iY6y_ZMPjPs [https://youtu.be/iY6y_ZMPjPs] — 💌 Want more about angel investing, South Asian female founder stories, and belonging to a community that builds and funds Brown girl businesses? Find us on all social platforms @browngirlangels.

Stage 4 Cancer survivor to clean tech CEO—Nivatha Balendra (Dispersa) on scaling impact, why every “no” matters and choosing the right investor in Olga Cruz (Good & Well, BDC)

If you believe business is about more than the bottom line—or if you need fresh faith that purpose-driven founders can commercialize real innovation—this is your new playbook.   In this truly inspiring episode, host Bhargavi Varma sits down with Founder Nivatha Balendra (Dispersa), and Investor Olga Cruz (BDC) to talk about resilience, science-driven innovation, and the power of value-aligned investing.Nivatha shares the remarkable journey of launching Dispersa, a cleantech startup which converts food waste into eco-friendly biosurfactants. Olga reflects on her path as an Investor (from Good & Well to BDC Thrive Lab) and the importance of intuition, seva, and supporting women founders. Together, they unpack what it takes to commercialize sustainability solutions, navigate fundraising, and stay grounded through meditation, community, and resilience. About The Founder:Nivatha Balendra, (Forbes 30 Under 30 Science) founded Dispersa [https://dispersa.ca/], a biotechnology company that transforms food waste into sustainable, biodegradable surfactants for the cleaning and personal care industries. After the 2013 Lac-Mégantic oil spill, she began researching oil-degrading bacteria at the age of 17 and has since been recognised for her innovative approach to environmental sustainability. About The Investor: Olga Cruz, is a Director at BDC Capital’s Thrive Lab [https://www.bdc.ca/en/bdc-capital/venture-capital/funds/thrive-platform/thrive-lab-women], where she leads a $50 million investment fund focused on early-stage, women-led, impact-driven businesses across Canada. In addition to her investment work, Olga is a certified breathwork and meditation teacher with the Art of Living Foundation, emphasizing the importance of clarity, presence, and emotional intelligence in leadership. 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: Dispersa [https://dispersa.ca/] PuraSurf [https://dispersa.ca/products/purasurf/](by Dispersa)BDC [https://www.bdc.ca/en] BDC Thrive Lab for Women [https://www.bdc.ca/en/bdc-capital/venture-capital/funds/thrive-platform/thrive-lab-women] Good & Well [https://www.goodandwell.ca/] Hyve [https://hyveclean.com/] For Nivatha's Mom

The Value of Power: Shaherose Charania (Women 2.0, Unshackled, Nike) invests alongside Serena Williams in Ishveen Jolly (OpenSponsorship) and proves the power that comes from giving to others.

In this episode, Shaherose Charania(Women 2.0, Unshackled, Nike) and Ishveen Jolly (OpenSponsorship) join host Bhargavi Varma for a conversation that embodies the core values of Brown Girl Angels: The power of paying it forward. They dive into how Sevā and giving to others influences their work and creates pathways to capital, while also sharing insight into the practices that make a strategic angel and if there’s a right time to raise funds. Together they discuss the growing presence of South Asian women in business and sports, and what it’s like to be supported by someone like Serena Williams. From a serendipitous first meeting to nurturing a business that’s creating powerful changes in sports sponsorship- they have set the bar for Investor/Founder relationships. Grab your chai, join us!  About The Founder: Ishveen Jolly is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship [https://opensponsorship.com/], the largest two-sided marketplace for sports sponsorship, connecting tens of thousands of brands and athletes globally. Notably, Brandin Cooks’ Levis x Dicks Sporting Goods campaign and Jamal Adams’ Quorn campaign. About The Investor: Shaherose Charania is the CEO and Co-Founder of Women 2.0 [https://women2.com/], a Partner at Unshackled Ventures [https://www.unshackledvc.com/], and the host of the podcast First Funders [https://firstfunderspod.com/]. Coming from a background in Strategy, Advisory and Investments with Nike, Shaherose has since expanded her vast portfolio to include angel investing, her own VC firm and advisory of others.  🔗 Mentioned in this episode: OpenSponsorship [https://opensponsorship.com/]  Women 2.0 [https://women2.com/] Unshackled Ventures [https://www.unshackledvc.com/] First Funders Podcast [https://firstfunderspod.com/] Serena Ventures [https://www.serenaventures.com/] Oregon Sports Angels [https://oregonsportsangels.org/] All Raise [https://www.allraise.org/] Brown Girls, Bold Moves is hosted by Bhargavi Varma. Find out more about Brown Girl Angels here [https://browngirlangels.com/]. The show is made by editaudio [https://editaud.io/]. It’s edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Our Associate Producer is Kam Grewal. Theme music for Brown Girls, Bold Moves is by Kunal Merchant, Prateeksha Srivastava, and 6091 from Indo Warehouse [https://indo-warehouse.com/]. Get involved with Brown Girl Angels below: * Follow us on social @browngirlangels  * Watch us on YouTube at Brown Girl Angels [https://www.youtube.com/@BrownGirlAngels]  * Sign up to the Brown Girls, Money Moves [https://browngirlangels.beehiiv.com/subscribe] newsletter  * Join Brown Girls, Desi Dinners in your city by visiting our website: www.browngirlangels.com [http://www.browngirlangels.com] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].