Next Billion Ventures

What Next Billion Ventures does

Next Billion Capital Partners LLC is a private equity firm founded in 2019 by former IFC/World Bank professionals Ruzgar Barisik, Kentaro Toyoda, Falgu Shah, and Christopher Schroeder. The firm provides growth equity capital of $10-15 million per deal to proven, technology-driven businesses in emerging markets, targeting category leaders in fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and edtech across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. As of 2025, the firm reports $200 million+ deployed across 40 portfolio companies in 15 countries, with 10 realized exits.

The firm's sole investment vehicle is the Digital Growth Fund I, which reached first closing in July 2024 with anchor limited partners Impact Engine, Capricorn Investment Group, and responsAbility Investments AG. The fund plans to back 15-20 companies per cycle and has committed to the 2X Challenge gender-lens criteria, targeting impact for 50 million women, low-and-middle-income households, and underserved MSMEs. Portfolio companies include Qoala (Southeast Asian insurtech), Alice (Brazilian healthcare), BHub (Brazilian AI-enabled accounting), Kredivo (Indonesian digital lending), and Minu (Mexican salary-on-demand).

The firm operates from New York with a distributed venture partner network across Singapore, São Paulo, Nairobi, Dubai, Mexico, and South Africa, enabling local deal sourcing and portfolio support. Revenue is generated through standard private equity economics: management fees on committed capital and carried interest on investment returns. The firm has articulated a thesis that AI-driven productivity improvements translate to EBITDA expansion, and several portfolio companies (notably Qoala, Alice, and BHub) deploy proprietary AI in computer vision, NLP, autonomous agents, and process automation.

Name

Next Billion Ventures

Legal name

Next Billion Capital Partners LLC

Website

https://nextbillion.capital

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Next Billion Capital Partners is a private equity firm investing $10-15 million per deal in growth-stage technology companies across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, targeting fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and edtech sectors with a digital inclusion impact thesis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Growth Equity Private Equity

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Emerging market venture capital
• Growth equity investing
• Fintech private equity
• Impact investment funds
• Technology growth capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees and Carried Interest: As a private equity firm, Next Billion generates revenue through management fees charged on committed capital and carried interest (performance fees) on investment returns. The Digital Growth Fund is the firm's investment vehicle targeting growth-stage companies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Next Billion Ventures is a private growth-equity firm that manages the Digital Growth Fund I, investing $10–15 million per company in 15–20 proven, technology-driven businesses across fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and edtech in emerging markets including Southeast Asia, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The firm combines institutional-grade investment rigor (built by former IFC professionals) with locally embedded deal teams in each target region and an impact mandate focused on financial and digital inclusion for women, low- and middle-income households, and underserved MSMEs.

Product overview

Next Billion Capital Partners is a private equity firm offering a single investment fund vehicle—Digital Growth Fund I—for growth-stage technology investments in emerging markets. The firm does not offer a software product, SaaS platform, or developer-facing tools. Its product suite consists exclusively of its flagship growth equity fund targeting digital inclusion across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Next Billion Digital Growth Fund: Growth equity fund investing in fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and edtech companies across Southeast Asia, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America, targeting women, low-and-middle income households, and underserved MSMEs.

Products and services

• Next Billion Digital Growth Fund I A growth-equity fund vehicle that invests $10–15 million per company in 15–20 proven, technology-driven businesses in fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and edtech across nine markets in Southeast Asia, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The fund targets financial and digital inclusion for women, low- and middle-income households, and underserved MSMEs, and is offered to institutional limited partners such as impact funds, family offices, DFIs, and corporate investors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40 companies invested across 15 countries with 10 exits
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability12 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• World Bank / IFCfoundationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe founding team of Ruzgar Barisik, Ken Toyoda, and Falgu Shah met at the World Bank / International Finance Corporation (IFC), where they helped build the technology investment practice. Next Billion was launched in 2019 by these former IFC professionals along with Christopher Schroeder. The firm leverages deep relationships and expertise developed at IFC.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Development Partners International (DPI): Pan-African PE firm making growth-stage investments in high-growth companies across Africa. Comparable growth-stage EM mandate and focus on digital/financial inclusion themes make DPI a relevant peer.
• Goodwell Investments: Impact-focused EM growth investor targeting inclusive businesses serving low-income consumers in Africa and Asia. Overlapping impact thesis and target beneficiary base make Goodwell a strong comparable.
• Quona Capital: EM-focused growth equity firm investing in fintech and commerce companies serving underbanked populations across Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and India. Overlapping sector focus and comparable check size make Quona a highly relevant direct peer.
• Acumen Capital Partners: Impact investment organization backing early- and growth-stage companies serving low-income communities across East Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Similar financial inclusion and gender-lens investment focus.
• responsAbility Investments AG: Swiss impact investment specialist focused on private equity and debt financing in emerging markets. Both invest in EM financial inclusion themes; responsAbility is also an LP in Next Billion's Digital Growth Fund I.
• 8 Decimal Capital: Multi-strategy fund manager focused on emerging markets with growth equity exposure in fintech and commerce. Similar EM growth equity thesis targeting underserved consumers across overlapping geographies.
• LeapFrog Investments: Growth equity investor focused on financial services and healthcare businesses serving emerging market consumers. LeapFrog's emerging-markets growth thesis, impact orientation, and similar check sizes make it the closest direct peer to Next Billion Capital Partners.
• Novastar Ventures: East Africa-focused growth equity investor backing proven business models in low-income markets. Both firms target growth-stage tech-enabled businesses with impact theses, though Novastar is regionally narrower.

Others

• Capricorn Investment Group: Mission-driven investment firm with venture, growth, and public-market allocations including emerging markets tech. Listed as an LP in Next Billion's Digital Growth Fund I, making it adjacent to Next Billion's investor base rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Helios Investment Partners: Pan-African private equity firm with broader sector mandate and larger fund sizes than Next Billion. Operates across consumer, financial services, and tech in Africa with broader geographic spread.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/next-billion-capital-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments35 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Next Billion Ventures