We invest in visionary founders who are passionate about harnessing frontier technologies to address the world's most pressing challenges. Whether it's revolutionizing financial services through blockchain or advancing groundbreaking carbon capture solutions, we partner with entrepreneurs who believe that the future's greatest opportunities will be created here in the Global South.

Marianna joined Lateral Frontiers as an intern analyst. She holds an undergraduate degree in law from Strathmore University and has work experience in legal practice at the Office of the Attorney General, entrepreneurship having 2 failed businesses and investments in public equities and real estate.

Abdigani has over a decade of extensive background as an advisor, technology leader and entrepreneur in AI and Fintech fields and overseeing commercialization of technologies in the Middle East and Africa. He is the current head of machine learning at Atacana Group Inc., a competitive strategy and intelligence firm focused on healthcare.

Prior to Atacana, he was Co-founder & CPO at Elevate (formerly Bloom), Sudan’s first YC-backed start-up. Fintech raised a $6.5 million seed round with participation from Visa, Y Combinator, U.S.-based VCs Global Founders Capital (GFC), and Goodwater Capital. He is currently a board member. He also previously co-founded Innovate Ventures, the leading start-up accelerator and technology fund in Somalia.

Abdigani has held senior research positions in industry and academia for some of the largest companies and institutions such as Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University where he has launched AI systems to tens of millions of people.

He also possesses many accolades. He is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader,  TED Fellow and a Next Einstein Forum Fellow. He has also been listed among the top 100 economic leaders in Africa in 2023 by Institute Choiseul, top 30 African Innovators by Quartz in 2018, and one of the world’s top 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review.

He holds a PhD in computer science from University College London and an Executive MBA from INSEAD.

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Ebby joined Lateral Frontiers Nairobi as an intern analyst. She has 2+ years’ work experience across the Kenyan Financial services including insurance, asset management and Investment Banking. Prior to joining Lateral, she was an equities research Analyst intern at Dyer and Blair Investment bank, a leading Investment Bank in East Africa covering banking and construction sectors. Ebby holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Eldoret and finds a balance in her life in the outdoors.

Shreyas joined Lateral Frontiers Nairobi as a venture analyst. He holds an undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Sheffield, and a master’s degree in International Finance and has prior work experience in the healthcare sectors in India and Kenya.

Hellen Mwaniki is an operations manager with a strong track record in optimizing business processes and supporting strategic initiatives. Hellen currently manages partner schedules, coordinates meetings, and provides insights to enhance team performance and achieve organizational goals at Lateral. Her previous experience includes roles at BoxCommerce, where she handled administrative tasks,  and supported both operations and human resources.

Hellen holds a BSc in Information Science  and Information Technology from Kenyatta University and is currently taking a Data Science certificate from Moringa School.

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Lorraine has spent over 15+ years across Technology, Banking and Consumer goods sectors working for Microsoft, ABSA and Unilever. She excels at scaling products and companies in African Markets having worked as head of enterprise sales at Microsoft covering West, East and Central Africa and as Head of Retail products at ABSA Kenya where she oversaw conceptualizing, developing and implementing plans for new and existing products. Lorraine has a wealth of experience working with tech-enabled startups through her capacity as a mentor at Endeavour and an advisor at Antler. She has worked with some of Africa’s top startups like Africa’s Talking and currently works with a LF portfolio company Pngme as Chief Strategy Officer. Lorraine studied International Relations, International Law with a Focus on Boundary Dispute Resolution from the University of London (SOAS) And Politics and Social Policy from Bristol University.

Samakab has circa 2 decades’ experience in investing in early stage and fast growing companies across developed and emerging markets. Prior to joining Lateral Frontiers, he established the Middle Eastern presence of Avanz Capital, an emerging market growth focused Private Equity firm where he focused on making investments across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Samakab started his career as an investment banker in London working across Corporate Restructuring, Leveraged Finance and Growth Finance with the Lloyds Banking group, before joining the Private Equity arm of Allstate Investments, a US institutional investor. During his time at Allstate, Samakab invested circa $1 billion in PE deals across Africa Asia and Europe. Samakab has earned a B.A in Law with Business before going on to complete an MSc in International Business from the University of Nottingham. He is originally from East Africa and is based in our Nairobi office, Kenya.

Rob has spent his career investing, living and working in developing markets. Prior to co-founding Lateral Frontiers he was a Venture Partner with Conversion Capital and established Frontier Dawn Partners, an evergreen vehicle for capital deployment to early stage, technology enabled founding teams in sub-Saharan Africa. Rob started his career in capital markets at JP Morgan, Johannesburg, became an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs and Investment Director at ACI. He spent ten years based in Johannesburg, Moscow and London transitioning across hedge fund coverage and private equity buyout advisory in markets including sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Rob holds a masters degree in finance from Cambridge University and a bachelor's degree with dual majors in philosophy and economics from the University of Cape Town.

Steven is a seasoned entrepreneur and investment professional with twenty years of experience investing as a principal and fund manager across the globe. He has extensive experience in real estate development, energy, and venture investing. Prior to co-founding Lateral Frontiers, Steven was a Director in the Office of the President of Guyana where he held responsibility for the implementation of their low-carbon development strategy and the execution of large-scale initiatives in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Steven started his career in real estate and project finance at the Moinian Group and later co-founded the private equity firm Capstone Equities. Steven graduated from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and has a B.A. in Finance and Philosophy from New York University.