Bedy Yang, Managing Partner 500 Global

Bedy Yang oversees 500 Global’s ecosystem development programs including investor education courses, has helped launch strategic partnerships and accelerator programs across the globe, and leads 500’s corporate startup innovation and consultancy. Bedy joined 500 Global in 2011, becoming General Partner of its Global Flagship Funds I, II, III and IV. Among her investments are Talkdesk, MURAL, Pipefy, Viva Real which sold to OLX, and Cinepapaya, acquired by Fandango.

Prior to 500, she worked as a management consultant specializing in distribution and go-to-market strategies for Fortune 500 companies in Brazil. She founded Brazil Innovators, an organization that became the premier hub for Brazilian tech founders, with a network of over 5,000 members.
Bedy is a member of the Society of Kauffman Fellows, Class ‘17, a Guest Lecturer at Stanford Center for Professional Development, INSEAD and Berkeley, and a Forbes Contributor. She holds a BA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, an MLA from the University of Pennsylvania, and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

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Karim Hussein, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures

Karim Hussein is a Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, Egypt’s leading growth stage venture capital fund.  Karim is a technology veteran with deep experience in product and innovation management and rapid business growth and scaling – particularly in the healthcare and financial services markets. He is founder and Chairman of D-Kimia Diagnostic Solutions developing fast, affordable, and accurate medical diagnostics using nano-technology. Karim serves on the boards of Yodawy, Sarwa Capital, Halan, Little Thinking Minds, Lyve, and Simplex Arabia CNC Solutions. He was previously Chairman of the entrepreneurship committee of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council, a mentor to high impact entrepreneurs through the Endeavor network, and a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. 

Previously, Karim was SVP, Products and Engineering at WebMD, Inc., directing product management, technology strategy and engineering. Prior to WebMD, Karim was co-founder and CTO of Riskclick, Inc., a software firm specializing in commercial insurance applications. He began his career with Booz Allen & Hamilton in New York and London where he was a member of the Global e-Commerce team. He played a central role in developing the firm's expertise in e-commerce, particularly in finance and media markets.  Prior to Booz Allen, Karim led a graduate research group in distributed collaborative systems at MIT. 

Karim received his PhD in Information Systems from MIT and a dual BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He has over 40 publications and a patent for his work on distributed computing.

Maxime Bayen, Venture Builder at Catalyst Fund

Maxime Bayen is a venture builder with the emerging markets startups accelerator Catalyst Fund. He is also the co-founder of the insights platform Africa:The Big Deal. Maxime has been working with startups across Africa for the past 7 years and is also an angel investor in his personal capacity.
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Prior to joining Catalyst Fund, Maxime was a Senior Venture Builder with Greentec Capital where he supported 7 African startups in various sectors ( e.g. e-Commerce, Retail, SaaS, Logistics, Agriculture, and Waste management) for nearly 2 years. Before Greentec, Maxime co-led the deployment and running of the GSMA Mobile For Development Ecosystem Accelerator Programme, aimed at building synergies between startups and mobile operators to scale innovative and sustainable mobile services in emerging markets (Africa and Asia Pacific). 35 startups across 3 continents were supported by this programme during his time at GSMA. Most of his previous experience was gained as a consultant within the telecom and tech space in emerging markets including Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Maxime holds an MBA from the ESSEC Business School.

Shruti Chandrasekhar, Head of SME Ventures at IFC

Shruti Chandrasekhar is an investment professional with over 13 years of experience investing in private equity and venture capital. Currently she is the Head of SME Ventures at the IFC/World Bank Group. SME Ventures is a private equity investment program focused on providing access to capital for SMEs across frontier markets. Shruti also leads IFC’s gender focused initiatives across private equity and venture capital. Shruti has spent around seven years at the IFC in various roles – leading direct investments in early stage companies as well as investing in funds.
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Prior to the IFC, Shruti was with PremjiInvest, the multi-billion dollar family office / endowment for Mr. Azim Premji, the 7th largest signatory of the Giving Pledge (and largest non-American giver). At PremjiInvest, Shruti held multiple roles including leading the global fund investment program, late-stage direct VC investing in Silicon Valley, and mid-market PE in India. Prior to her investment career, Shruti was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. She has an MBA from the Wharton School and an S.B. from MIT.

Omosalewa Adeyemi, Senior Vice President, Market Penetration at Flutterwave

Omosalewa Adeyemi heads the Global Expansion, Partnerships & Market Penetration team at Flutterwave. In her role, she has partnered with several financial institutions, fintech companies, and regulators to launch and scale Flutterwave's products in over 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europem and the USA.

Prior to Flutterwave, Omosalewa worked as a healthcare consultant and has an educational background in Business Administration.