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

How Fandom, Resilience, and a Really Good Memo Led to a $1M Raise

What if the things you've been obsessed with since you were nine years old turned out to be the basis for a $1M business idea? That's what happened for Zehra Naqvi, founder of Lore [https://www.loreobsessed.com/]—the AI-powered fandom search platform that already has hundreds of thousands of people on its waitlist. We're also joined by Marina Girgis of Precursor Ventures [http://precursorvc.com/], one of their earliest believers and a pre-seed investor. We got into why obsession is an underrated investment thesis, what it actually takes to pitch a VC when you have nothing but an idea and a really good memo, and how two women with unconventional paths found their way to the cutting edge of consumer AI. 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/GrxrEwl2VTY [https://youtu.be/GrxrEwl2VTY] — 💌 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.

"I Don't Want Mentoring, I Want Cash": How One Founder Turned a Cold LinkedIn DM into Funding

Building a peer-to-peer startup from scratch is hard—but doing it sustainably, profitably, and on your own terms? That's a different level entirely. Fresh off of winning Retail Entrepreneur of the Year, Eshita Kabra-Davies, founder of By Rotation [https://byrotation.com/], joins us today along with her investor, Triin Linamagi of Sie Ventures [https://www.sie.ventures/], to discuss this milestone, balancing authenticity and community with the risk of seeming cringe, and how to turn a cold connection into a funding relationship. 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/IUmkBJ2MLHk [https://youtu.be/IUmkBJ2MLHk] — 💌 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.

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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiLUW4n3X6Y [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiLUW4n3X6Y]. — 💌 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.