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April 19, 2022

EP 195 - Ben Harburg - MSA Capital - Is Southeast Asia an Innovation Laboratory?

32 minutes

The Asia Tech Podcast had an exciting and in-depth conversation with Ben Harburg, a Managing Partner at MSA Capital. He serves as the CIO of Emerging Technology Markets and leads global growth for MSA’s portfolio companies.

MSA is a global investment firm that invests from seed-to-growth stage investments across consumer, enterprise, core technologies, and healthcare. The firm was established in 2014 and manages $1.7 billion in capital across multiple funds.

Some of the topics that Ben covered:

Did a Fulbright for a year in Germany studying Islamic Sciences and Oriental Philology

Traveled to Egypt as a 13-year-old

Grew up as an ex-pat, so had a global perspective from an early age

China is an innovation leader across multiple tech verticals

Alibaba's expansion strategy does not work

Investing in the GoJek of Iraq

The difference between emerging markets and emerging technology markets

How the United Arab Emirates built a platform for long-term entrepreneurial development

A large and growing appetite for tech startup investment in Africa

Other titles we considered for this episode:

Touching Down, I Remember the Heat