Hey I’m Mikal Khoso
I’m a global citizen and have lived in 9 cities in 8 countries across 4 continents.
Professionally I’ve spent time as a startup employee, startup founder and venture capitalist.
As a venture capitalist I have invested over $150 million across 30+ startups.
As a startup operator I’ve been part of the founding team (employee #6) of an edtech company and was COO of a design studio with over 45 employees.
Lastly I’m an avid writer and write Emergent, a newsletter about the fastest-growing businesses in emerging markets. I also used to write Trajectory, where I followed my curiousity and analyzed emerging technology trends.
My Writings
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Breadfast: Egypt’s King of Quick Commerce
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Egypt has always been famous for its rich history and culture and the subject of numerous Hollywood movies. But in the past few years Egypt is increasingly making a name for itself for something else – startups. Egypt has seen venture capital funding to startups in the…
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Freshworks: The King of Global SMB SAAS
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Enterprise software companies serving large corporate customers has long dominated the world of venture capital and startups as the category that most excites investors, attracts numerous great entrepreneurs and consistently produces large companies. However, over the last decade as the tech industry has evolved from a vertical…
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OPay and Nigeria’s Mobile Money Wars
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Fintech has proved to be one of the most fertile categories for entrepreneurs to innovate in globally over the past decade. Finance is the engine that powers an economy both at an individual level – bank accounts, mortgages and credit – and at a business level –…
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Rappi: LATAM’s Super App
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Latin America’s market of 650 million people has long tempted entrepreneurs and investors as a region on the cusp of huge economic growth and an exciting place to innovate and invest. Despite this, the region has struggled through numerous crises ranging from civil wars, poor governance and…
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Byju’s: The World’s Most Valuable Edtech Startup
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Attending school and education are a right of passage for kids worldwide and of critical importance in an increasingly complex world. Despite the importance of education, the field has changed little over the past 100 years. However, the burgeoning educational technology sector – “edtech” – is promising…
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GoTo and Southeast Asia’s Super App Wars
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. The merger of GoJek and Tokopedia will create one of the largest technology companies in the world: The creation of GoTo will now kick off a showdown between Super Apps in Southeast Asia between GoTo, Grab and Sea in a battle for supremacy. With Grab’s recently announced…
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Interswitch: An African Fintech Powerhouse
This article was originally published on my newsletter Emergent. Fintech is one of the top two most active areas for tech entrepreneurship and venture capital financing in emerging markets. The financial systems built in the West over centuries – both consumer-facing and business banking – are far more robust in comparison to the limited access…
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Jahez – Saudi Arabia’s First Startup IPO?
This article was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. The rise of food and grocery delivery startups is a global trend that shows no sign of slowing down. Delivery startups are being founded and growing rapidly in the most unexpected places. One great example of this trend is food delivery startup Jahez. Jahez is a food…
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Getir: From Turkey to the World?
Is Getir the first global Turkish startup? This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand…
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Flutterwave: Championing Digital Payments in Africa
This article was originally published on my newsletter Emergent. The digitization of payments is a lucrative opportunity that entrepreneurs across the world are chasing after. In Africa, where a large percentage of the population remains unbanked and the penetration of credit and debit cards low, this opportunity is particularly large. The soaring number of smartphone…
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Nubank: The World’s Biggest Digital Bank
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand its product, market and growth strategy. This…
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Grab: The Most Valuable Startup in Southeast Asia
This article was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Southeast Asia is the most dynamic internet economy in the world outside of the United States and China. The number of internet users in the region has soared from 260 million in 2015 to 400 million by 2020. The region as a whole has a population of…
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Udaan: India’s Biggest Digital Wholesaler
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand its product, market and growth strategy. This…
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Meituan: Food + Platform
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand its product, market and growth strategy. This…
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Tokopedia: Indonesian Ecommerce Giant
This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. The War for the Indonesian Ecommerce Market Southeast Asia is the fastest growing economic region in the world – growing over 5% per year. The region has been transformed in the last decade with ecommerce and digital payments in particular having grown exponentially. One of the…