This is the perfect opportunity to hear first-hand accounts from successful entrepreneurs. The Bettany Centre Entrepreneurship Speaker Series gives you the chance to hear from a variety of entrepreneurs from across a range of industries.
The speakers will give you an insight in to their journey, identifying their successes and any mistakes that they may have made along their way. You will also be given the opportunity to ask questions, allowing you to delve even further in to the backstory of these well-established entrepreneurs.
Attending these events will provide you with a great chance to network with like-minded individuals who share your passion for entrepreneurship.
The events are entirely free of charge and refreshments are supplied (face-to-face events only).
All of our Speaker Series events take place at 18:00 on Thursday evenings in November and February.
Investor's perspective in emerging markets
Nishant Hada
Principal at Africa Platform Capital
Nishant is an alumnus of Cranfield MBA 21/22. He works as a Principal at Africa Platform Capital, where he is responsible for evaluating technology startups and investment decisions. Before coming to the UK, he was head of Marketing at uFaber Edutech, an Ed-Tech startup in Mumbai, building the marketing department from scratch. He has 15 years of experience in diverse industries, which span startups, digital marketing, tech companies and as a writer in Bollywood- the Indian film industry.
Simon Rowlands
Co-founder Africa Platform Capital
Simon was a Co-Founding Partner of Cinven for 26yrs, the global private equity firm. This entailed acquiring and growing companies across Europe and the US, whilst establishing and running the Healthcare team.
His family office, Africa Platform Capital was formed in 2016, focussed on investing in Disruptive Technology and Healthcare.
His current board memberships include British International Investment, the UK Government funded development finance institution, Alfa Medical Group in Egypt and Jacobs Holdings in Switzerland.
In 2010 he co-founded the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust in Zimbabwe, active in human and wildlife conflict. The Trust has 25 staff and now raises over $1 million pa.
Simon began his career as an engineer, spending five years with an international engineering consultancy WLPU, on multi-disciplinary projects in the UK and Southern Africa. He holds a BSc in Civil & Structural Engineering and is a Chartered Engineer.
He graduated with an MBA from Cranfield in 1986.
Simon is Chairman of the Cranfield School of Management Advisory Board and was elected to the Cranfield University Council in 2019.
