Meet GES Delegate: Euler Bropleh
Name: Euler Bropleh
Twitter handle: @EulerBropleh
Country of Origin: Liberia
Organization Name: VestedWorld
Organization Website: www.vestedworld.com
Brief Description of Organization: VestedWorld is an online venture fund that allows qualified investors to invest in early stage businesses in developing countries. Our model is a hybrid between a traditional venture fund and an online investment platform. We invest in companies across a wide spectrum of industries, including agribusiness, manufacturing, consumer products/services, financial services, media and energy. Our objective is to invest in industries that are critical to the long-term economic growth of the countries where we invest.
What inspired you to start this organization? I’ve always wanted to play a role in the growth and development of Liberia (where I’m from) and other developing countries around the world. I believe that economic development is the most effective way to lift people out of poverty and alleviate many of the issues that developing countries face. Lack of access to capital is one of the biggest factors inhibiting economic growth in developing countries and early stage businesses are most impacted by this. By investing and increasing the flow of capital to entrepreneurs in developing countries, and providing those entrepreneurs with strategic and operational support, we can create an environment that allows businesses to grow, employ more people at fair wages, and contribute towards building economies that are stable and less dependent on aid.
What is the next big step you hope to help your organization reach? In the next few months, we will be working on:
- Closing our 6th investment
- Crossing the 1,000 VestedAngels threshold
- Having over 50 companies and individuals dedicated to providing substantive post investment support to our portfolio companies
What has been your biggest obstacle as an entrepreneur? Changing the perceptions that people have of African countries and other developing countries has been a big obstacle for us. The perception of risk (political, terror, economic, fraud) is greater than actual risk, so we have to spend a fair bit of time helping people understand these issues.
What advice would you give other emerging entrepreneurs? Focus on building viable businesses that have the ability to scale and be profitable. It does not need to be a technology company or a “social enterprise.” Technology can make processes more efficient, scalable, and can help leapfrog certain aspects of the development process. Social enterprises are wonderful but unappealing to investors if the business is unprofitable/unsustainable, and it’s ultimately unhelpful to the people you wish to serve if your social enterprise fails. Remember that businesses doing simple things are just as important, scalable, profitable, and impactful in emerging markets. Dangote Cement, which makes a commodity product, earns more than 50% gross margins on their products and they control a majority of the market share in markets where they operate.
