Entrepreneurial Management

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Nuwa Capital: Investing During Uncertainty

October 2026 |
Teaching Plan |
Faculty Research

Nuwa Capital (Nuwa) was a venture capital firm based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The business was founded in 2020 by Khaled Talhouni and his partners Sarah Abu Risheh, and Stephanie Nour Prince (they were later joined by Nitin Reen and Victor Sunyer). Together, they had a combined experience of nearly 20 years investing in over 300 companies, including some of the Middle East and North Africa’s most successful startups. In a startup ecosystem as nascent as theirs, their track record eclipsed most other firms. By August 2021, Nuwa had achieved a first close on its fund and, in response to changing market conditions, pivoted their investment thesis to earlier stage startups. One of the industries they decided to invest in was foodtech, and they had been in advanced stages of conversations with Calo, a Bahrain based foodtech player. The team was conducting their already accelerated due diligence when they received word that another investor had just met Calo and was willing to take Nuwa’s spot. Promising founders like Calo’s were hard to come by and Nuwa had to decide quickly. The problem was that Calo did not, on the surface, fit Nuwa’s thesis. However, it had the potential to only after a pivot.

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Decisions; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Dubai; Bahrain

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story

By: Paul Gompers

October 2025 |
Teaching Plan |
Faculty Research

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 822-098. The case opens in September 2021 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are contemplating whether the year-and-a half old startup should also venture into offering financing to its customers, the thousands of mom-and-pop stores around Pakistan. Since its founding in mid 2020, the company has been growing its core business full throttle and also launched a digital ledger app to help with customer acquisition. Meanwhile, the co-founders are growing the team and geographically expanding Bazaar’s operations beyond Karachi. Jawaid and Jangda need to weigh the pros and cons of branching out to financing and decide, with so much going on, whether this is the right time for such a move.

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

Runa

October 2025 |
Teaching Plan |
Faculty Research

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 224-047. In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and easy-to-use cloud-based solution. McColgan, a serial entrepreneur from Southern California, firmly believed the platform could disrupt Mexico's vast industry, and become a billion-dollar business. After an initial period of rapid growth during its first 18 months of operations, and amidst hiring a new executive team, Runa’s growth began to falter as attracting new clients became increasingly hard, and customer acquisition costs increased. In August 2021, Runa raised more funds amidst an unprecedented expansion in venture capital investment in Latin America, and it deployed additional marketing strategies and developed new products to entice customers. However, by early 2022, the venture scenario grew gloomier, and tech companies began to take cautionary measures. How should Runa adapt to a potentially more limited funding scenario and perhaps even less favorable growth prospects in the short run? Would dramatic structural and strategic changes be needed? Or should McColgan consider shutting down her business and create a new venture?

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America

Kashat: Navigating the Uncertainties of the Egyptian Fintech Market

October 2025 |
Teaching Plan |
Faculty Research

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 824-055. Karim Nour, the founder of Kashat, an Egyptian nano-lending fintech company, is contemplating how to manage the growth of his startup. Over the summer of 2022, Kashat's loan disbursements had grown by nearly 40%, fueled by macroeconomic instability in Egypt. However, economic uncertainty had also deterred investors from investing in the region. Nour soon began to realize he did not have the funds to maintain the company's rapid growth, in fact, he may not even have the capital to keep the company running. The case explores Nour's journey as he grapples with the concept of 'hibernating' the company, halting lending operations and preserving Kashat's invaluable data algorithm. Within the case, Nour weighs the risks of hibernating versus holding out for funding as he prepares to meet with Kashat's board. He also considers the possibility of being acquired as a means of continued survival for Kashat.

Keywords: Fintech; Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Capital; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Egypt

Penny Jar Capital

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Jackie Grant and Tom Quinn

October 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Penny Jar Capital, founded in 2021, was a venture capital firm run by Bryant Barr and Rich Scudellari, two relative newcomers to the Silicon Valley VC scene. Their lead investor and special advisor was Stephen Curry, one of the most recognizable professional athletes in the world. Curry’s star power had yielded leads and meetings with revered, established VCs, allowing Penny Jar to get off to a fast start. However, celebrity-backed firms often had bad reputations, and they wanted to show that Penny Jar was more than just “Stephen Curry’s VC fund.” In 2024, as they prepared for their second fund, the founders debated how large it should be, what sectors to focus on, and to what extent they should invoke Curry’s celebrity.

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Growth and Development Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Sports; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry; California; United States

Educators

Fondo Esperanza

By: Benjamin N. Roth and Natalia Rigol

September 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 824-156.

ReSpo.Vision: The Kickstart of AI Sports Revolution

September 2025 |
Teaching Plan |
Faculty Research

This case study explores the growth journey of Polish computer vision sports start-up ReSpo.Vision in an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem. By providing 3D data and analysis to soccer clubs, ReSpo.Vision achieved significant milestones with a 1 million seed round, an EU innovation grant, and gained traction with top European soccer clubs. However, pressure to accelerate revenue growth led the company to consider a strategic shift towards immersive 3D visualizations for media and entertainment. Ahead of the upcoming funding round in early 2024, CEO Pawel Osterreicher faced a critical decision between scaling the existing business or creating a new business line. The case study highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with this shift in the context of a new and emerging market.

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Plan; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Decisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; Poland; Europe