Ramzi Rafih of No Label Ventures
“Each migrant is an entrepreneur,” says Ramzi Rafih, founding father of No Label Ventures. “Immigrants are entrepreneurs and so they create jobs.”
There’s definitely no scarcity of statistical proof to counsel that immigrant entrepreneurs – for no matter cause – are inclined to outperform relating to constructing companies. To take only one high-level instance, a survey carried out by the Open Political Economic system Community (OPEN) in 2021 discovered that eight out of twenty three British unicorns had been co-founded by minority entrepreneurs. These included Deliveroo, Monzo and Darktrace.
In different phrases, the U.Okay.’s innovation ecosystem could be poorer and fewer populated if it wasn’t for the presence of founders from abroad or their youngsters. The identical might be true throughout Europe and in North America. Rafih sees an funding alternative.
Wanting throughout Europe as a complete, Rafih plans to take a position early in companies that – statistically talking – have a better-than-average likelihood of delivering a return. To help these corporations, No Label Ventures goals to offer not solely capital but additionally sensible help. I spoke to him final week in regards to the pondering behind the launch of the fund.
Rafih is himself a product of the migrant expertise. “I used to be the son of an immigrant household from Lebanon,” he says. “We went to Saudi Arabia. After we returned, I left for France to review.”
Subsequently, he carved out a profession in finance and investing. His resume consists of spells at monetary providers firm, JP Morgan, funding agency KKR, and expertise investor Silver Lake. As well as, he has made his personal angel investments.
Rafih has created No Label Ventures with the backing of former KKR colleague, George Roberts and with half of a $15 million fund closed, the agency is making ready to jot down checks of between $100,000 and $250,000 at Seed and pre-Seed phases. To qualify for funding, early-stage ventures will need to have at the very least one founder who’s both a primary or second-generation migrant.
Formative Experiences
There are a lot of migrant journeys. Some contain a brief hop throughout a single border from one nation to the following. Others entail a migration between continents. So what does No Label Ventures imply when it talks about migrant founders.
“We’re centered on migrants from outdoors the European Union,” says Rafih. “The larger the journey, the larger the formative expertise.”
And it’s that “formative expertise” that No Label Ventures sees as essential to the success of migrant entrepreneurs. Throughout the European Union, a career-led journey between, say, Estonia and France or Germany will contain a specific amount of upheaval however the geographical and cultural distances are comparatively brief. Migrants touring from additional afield, arguably, require far more dedication to constructing new lives for themselves. As Rafih sees it, that’s the place a lot of the entrepreneurial spirit or – to place it one other means – the need to succeed comes from.
It’s maybe not fairly so simple as that. With the intention to set up themselves in Britain or inside the European Union migrants have numerous hurdles to leap by way of buying visas and finally securing the precise to stay indefinitely. Right here within the U.Okay., the federal government goals to encourage technologists and entrepreneurial expertise to come back to Britain, however the visa system can be a barrier to some.
As an illustration, Britain’s World Expertise Visa – is designed to offer a comparatively fast-track route for extremely expert individuals to enter the nation however it’s sector particular with a specific give attention to tech. “The World Expertise Visa is nice, however it isn’t inclusive,” says Rafih.
Visa Functions
So No Label Ventures supplies help with visa functions. “We’ve among the best legal professionals working for us, “ says Rafih. The fund may even make use of and primarily sponsor entrepreneurs to allow them to come back to the U.Okay.
Entrepreneurs who take funding are additionally supplied a share within the earnings made by the fund, which means that each founder turns into a accomplice. Ramzi cites equitable enterprise fund, Kindred for example of how this presently works in follow. As issues stand, No Label ventures is searching for funding alternatives and within the meantime, Rafih has transferred his portfolio of angel investments into the fund.
So what does a No Label Ventures Portfolio firm appear like? Rafih says he’s sector agnostic however inside that total thesis (or lack of 1) he has a private choice for corporations in fintech and healthcare.
Meals can be a theme. Rajih cites Oja, an internet grocery store promoting “cultural meals” and Farmland, a provider of worldwide sourced meals to supermarkets as examples of companies inside the portfolio.
However is there a necessity for a VC Fund centered on migrant companies, given the wealth of finance that’s now out there?
Effectively, in accordance with a 2021 OECD research on migration to Europe – titled The Lacking Migrants – that might nicely be the case. The report says:“Extra help and financing are wanted to enhance the standard of companies began by immigrants to extend the possibilities of changing into sustainable and encourage them away from sectors with an oversupply. Governments additionally must pay better consideration to attracting high-potential entrepreneurs by enhancing outreach and simplifying administrative necessities for these using start-up visas.”
The narratives round migration aren’t all the time constructive however because the OECD stresses, it makes whole sense for governments to offer help for migrant entrepreneurs. NO Label Ventures is getting down to present that centered buyers may also play an essential position.