Venna co-founded VERDE in 2016 and has spearheaded the company into a high growth potential company over 4 years. VERDE specialises in research, data analytics, predictive modelling and corporate finance advisory. Venna brings with her more than 12 years of experience in syndicated research, custom solutions and advanced analytics. She is focused on generating even further growth for VERDE by capitalising on untapped segments.

Prior to founding VERDE, Venna spent her career in investments, especially focused on the launch, monitoring and marketing of investment funds. Venna has worked for a number of years in major investment firms in the UK, which included Schroder Investments and UBS Global Asset Management. She has over time acquired deep and holistic experience on modelling, data mining and analytics. She today has a proven track record in the design of research methodologies and in implementing growth strategies, overseeing strategic transactions and creating value for stakeholders.

Venna heads VERDE’s innovation-based initiatives, given her growth-focused vision, which leverages VERDE’s granular and proprietary data, technology assets, and advanced analytics. Venna has also overseen large-scale strategic marketing engagements for clients, which included pricing strategy, demand assessment, marketing spend allocation and optimization, customer profitability improvement, corporate and brand repositioning, brand portfolio optimization, sales force effectiveness, new product launch, and marketing capability building. Venna has worked with a wide variety of survey and syndicated data, internal and external databases, marketing research tools and methodologies, and marketing science models.

Venna received her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics at the University of Warwick in the UK.

Dirish co-founded and established successful research and corporate finance advisory practice VERDE. He started the activities of the firm in 2015 to become an important player in the sub-Saharan region. Dirish also extended the activities of VERDE in multiple markets through a network of partners and collaborators.

Dirish has nearly two decades of experience in financial services, first as a proprietary commodity and currency trader, then moving to senior analyst roles and in senior executive positions. He led teams in listed markets (equities and bonds) before moving to alternative assets and principally managed a diversified illiquid portfolio of real estate and businesses. Dirish has extensive experience in project implementation, having led assignments with major corporations in over 6 industries across Europe and Africa. He also co-launched VERDE VENTURES in 2017, which is an accredited incubator and Venture Capital structure, seeking out possible investments with like-minded entrepreneurs.

Dirish is today a well-known and respected industry leader with strong credentials in investment advisory. He has worked alongside his clients’ boards and other professional advisers in several regulated markets.

Dirish has a strong background in solving issues through innovative methodologies, meaningful analysis, and vivid output. His specialty is custom, creative, and complex research that seamlessly integrates qual and quant methods. On the corporate finance advisory, he brings deep understanding of capital markets having worked on a number of assignments in his previous roles which include listings, delistings, acquisitions, fund raising and divestments.

He is a regular contributor in newspapers and magazines. He today leads VERDE’s strategic initiatives and expansion plans. Dirish has also lectured at university level for a number of years in applied statistics and finace.

Dirish holds an MSc with Distinction in Management Science from the University of Kent, UK, and a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics from the University of Mauritius.