Eva Yazhari — Managing Partner of Beyond Capital Ventures, early-stage investor, author of The Good Your Money Can Do, and advocate for conscious capitalism. Her funds have backed 50+ equity and 9 debt investments, reaching over 100 million customers across Africa and India.

First and most recent dollar:

First job: Working at a Staten Island bread shop.

Today: Managing partner of a venture + private credit fund investing in emerging markets with LP capital.

Family background & mindset:

Father grew up in Tanzania; grandfather a medical doctor working with Catholic missions — early exposure shaped her view of Africa as opportunity, not risk.

Parents were artists — exposure to art trained her in pattern recognition, now one of her investor superpowers.

Education & mindset pivots:

Started pre-med at Columbia → realized it was toxic competition. Pivoted to math, discovering both aptitude and love of problem solving.

Training in mathematics = fluency in patterns, language of money, and risk analysis.

Early career:

VP at Entrust Capital (fund of hedge funds). Employee #2 → helped scale from $200M → $4.8B AUM. Managed relationships with activist hedge fund giants like Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn.

Learned portfolio building, risk management, and fundraising skills that later became core to her VC work.

Why venture capital in Africa & India?

By 2050, 1 in 4 humans will be African; India today has the world’s largest working-age population.

53% of the next decade’s growth will come from these regions.

Saw contrarian “alpha” opportunity most Western investors still dismiss.

Sectors of focus:

Healthcare

Fintech

Mobility

Agtech (selectively)

All are tech-enabled, solving essential problems for fast-growing middle classes.

Conscious capitalism lens:

Portfolio companies think beyond profits → align incentives with customers, governments, communities.

Example: Rwanda’s first licensed online pharmacy; startup scaling e-motorbikes after gas bikes banned.

Beyond Capital gives founders a share of fund profits — equitable ownership model.

Fundraising lessons:

Fundraising is sales math: Eva raised her second fund after 550+ investor meetings → ~30–40 LPs. Funnel has to be very wide.

Mindset matters: Rejections happen, but abundance mindset drives momentum.

Referrals are gold: “Every dud knows a stud” — rejections often connect you to your best investors.

Exude confidence from a clear strategy — investors back comfort + conviction.

Personal insights:

Considers herself an entrepreneur, not just an allocator.

Believes leadership skills are as critical as financial acumen.

Thinks of her fund as her “third child.”

Alternate career: Pop star.

Dream chat: Emma Grede (helped Kardashian brands scale).

Learning style: Podcasts, audiobooks, physical books.

Reading now: The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle.

Her book: The Good Your Money Can Do.

Pump-up song: The Rapture Pt. 3 by Black Coffee.

Weakness: Moving slowly — always in motion.

https://www.instagram.com/consciousinvestor/?hl=en

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