Investor Talk

Oraan - Giving Pakistan's 60 million unbanked women their first financial identity 10.06.2026 47p

In Pakistan, bank CEOs have a ready answer for why women don't have access to credit. They call them "not economically viable." So 60 million women built their own system. No bank needed. No credit score. No permission. $14 billion moves through these informal savings circles every year — entirely in cash, entirely invisible to the formal economy.In this episode, we speak with Halima Iqbal, founder and CEO of Oraan — a Pakistan-based fintech that digitised that $14 billion system, and then found something even bigger hiding inside it.Oraan's digital committees platform has 600,000 users and a lifetime default rate of 1.89% — compared to 12-13% at microfinance banks. These women are the best credit risk in Pakistan. The formal system just never looked. In November 2025, Oraan launched Oraan Gold — fractional gold savings starting at $10 a month, price locked at first payment, physical delivery when the plan completes. In seven months, the gold book grew 74 times. On minimal marketing spend.Oraan holds a full NBFC licence and is expanding its savings and wealth stack into other emerging markets through partnerships with financial institutions.Their vision: financial inclusion for women — not just in Pakistan, but across every emerging market where women have been told their money doesn't matter.Angel investor Sarah Fairhurst joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (minute 33:00).Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Living Roots - Data driven biological fertilizer that boosts yields and regenerates soil 22.05.2026 1ó 6p

Listen to the story of Avika Narula and Abhi Agarwal from Living Roots. Based in Thailand, they taking on the large and real-world problem of food safety. Growing pressure on soil health, rising fertilizer costs and supply chain fragility, fuels the demand for regenerative agriculture. Living Roots tackles this problem by starting from first principles in science and farming economics by combining biology, agronomy, local manufacturing, and AI-assisted formulation to create what they call “crop protocols”: a system of biological products paired with an intelligence layer that adapts formulations by crop type, soil conditions, and growth stage. Their goal is to help farmers improve yields, reduce dependency on synthetic fertilizers, and restore soil health, while maintaining or improving farmer profitability. Angel investor Megha Jindal joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (minute 53:30).Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Sehat Kahani - Getting a doctor to Pakistan's 240 million — in 60 seconds 28.04.2026 55p

In Pakistan, 36% of women never see a doctor in their entire lifetime. The doctors exist — Pakistan trains more female doctors than male. But 80% never practice after marriage. They're called "doctor brides." The supply is there. The connection isn't.In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sara and Dr. Iffat — both physicians, both former "doctor brides" — who built Sehat Kahani (meaning "story of health"), a digital health platform connecting female doctors to patients across Pakistan in 60 seconds. B2B model: corporates and insurers pay a flat fee, employees get instant access via app. And for areas where the nearest doctor is 100km away, 82 telemedicine clinics on the ground. Nearly 5 million consultations, 1,200 corporate partners, a Harvard Business School case study, and the first all-female team in Pakistan to close a Series A. Now expanding to the UAE — contracts signed, doctors licensed, GCC market growing 21% a year.Their vision: quality primary healthcare for everyone, everywhere — powered by women doctors who refused to give up their careers.Followed by Investor Talk with Karin Welbrock, executive leadership coach and one of Epic Angels' most active angel investors.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

TripWip - The carsharing platform bringing Turo-style mobility to Latin America's 650 million people 01.04.2026 51p

The average car in Latin America sits idle 90% of the time. Renting one still means queuing at a counter, signing paper forms, and arguing about insurance. For 650 million people, that is still the only option.In this episode, we speak with Juan Manuel Pancic and Juan Andrés Vico — MIT-trained data scientist and tech lead veteran of BlackRock and McDonald's — about TripWip, the peer-to-peer carsharing app turning idle cars into income across Mexico, Argentina, and Uruguay. 23 months in: 130,000 users, 4X year-on-year growth, and Toyota, Kia, and Turo insiders already at the cap table. We also hear from COO and first-ever employee Sabina Balestrino on building a team across three countries.Followed by Investor Talk with #EpicInvestor Luisa Ladrón de Guevara, former Head of Operations Latin America at Uber.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Samay - The AI wearable bringing hospital-grade lung diagnostics to billions of people 23.03.2026 1ó 2p

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. 550 million people have it. 80% don't know — because the only reliable test requires an $80,000 machine, a specialist, and 40 minutes of forced breathing that many patients simply cannot do. Most people find out they have COPD after they've already lost 40% of their lung function.In this episode, we speak with Colombia / Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Dr. Maria Artunduaga and Ricardo Garcia — a Harvard and Berkeley-trained physician-scientist and an MIT-educated audio engineer who spent a decade at Google — about Sylvee, the world's first AI-powered active acoustic wearable for lung diagnostics. The device presses against your chest, sends sound waves into your lungs, and delivers clinical-grade results in under five minutes. No specialist, no lab, no forced breathing. Validated in Protected by 18 granted patents, and already generating commercial contracts with global respiratory pharma Chiesi and strategic investment from Suramericana, the fourth largest health insurer in Latin America.Their vision: bring hospital-grade lung diagnostics to the one billion people worldwide living with respiratory disease — from any setting, anywhere in the world.Followed by Investor Talk with #EpicInvestor Paula Restrepo.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Alkemio - Reinventing Rare Earth Refining 27.02.2026 53p

Alkemio is an Argentina-based deep tech company rethinking rare earth refining at a time when global supply chains are under pressure. With over 90% of refining capacity concentrated in China, industries and governments are seeking independent access to critical minerals essential for EVs, semiconductors, defense systems, and energy transition infrastructure.In this episode, we speak with founders Federico Pereyra Bonnet and Ailin Svagzdys, about the company’s proprietary molecular recognition platform and its modular, climate-friendly, refining model as an alternative to capital-heavy legacy plants. With a 15-year commercial framework in place at Iron Duke Mine, Alkemio is positioning itself at the intersection of science, geopolitics, and infrastructure.Followed by Investor Talk with Laetitia Marcadé, our Investment Committee, #EpicInvestor, and principal at Dalus Capital, the lead investor.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

TeenCare - Emotional AI changing how parents understand their teenagers 09.02.2026 1ó

TeenCare is a Vietnam-based technology company rethinking how families support teenagers during the most difficult years of growing up. As academic pressure, digital exposure, and emotional challenges intensify, parents are expected to guide their children with little real-time insight into what their teens are actually experiencing.TeenCare tackles this by combining live human mentors with AI-powered personalization. Weekly 1-on-1 mentoring sessions generate real behavioral data, which the platform translates into ongoing insights about each child’s motivations, triggers, and patterns. Instead of generic advice or one-off solutions, parents receive continuous, personalized guidance tailored to their teenager.Founded by Linh Hoang, who previously scaled WeGrow to 80,000 paid students, TeenCare scaled to an ARR of 1 million USD in just nine months, and has been cash flow positive since May 2025. Backed by Ascend Vietnam Ventures and Iterative, the company is now expanding into the Philippines and Singapore. In this episode, we explore how emotional AI is reshaping parenting, why trust is central to TeenCare’s model, and what this means for the future of family and youth development.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Givvable - The data layer behind trusted supplier decisions 09.02.2026 44p

Companies rely on thousands of suppliers, yet struggle to answer a simple question: do we really know who we’re doing business with right now? With 2,677 ESG and sustainability policies globally, supplier diligence has become a moving target, turning supplier intelligence into core enterprise infrastructure.Givvable addresses this by embedding continuously verified supplier data directly into procurement, ERP, and risk systems. Instead of one-off surveys or static reports, enterprises can continuously screen, vet, and assess suppliers using trusted credential data at the point where decisions are actually made.In this episode, Frances Atkins and Naomi Vowels, co-founders of Givvable, share how they built a supplier intelligence platform now supporting 65+ enterprise customers across APAC, the US, and the UK, and why supplier data is becoming unavoidable infrastructure in an increasingly regulated world.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Neem - building the Stripe of Pakistan for 250 million people 21.11.2025 1ó

Neem is a Pakistan-based fintech startup building the payments infrastructure that simply doesn't exist in the world's fifth largest country. While 71% of transactions still happen in cash, businesses juggle 10+ payment providers just to collect money or pay vendors. Neem has built the full stack: collections, disbursements, branded wallets, and unified reconciliation—all through a single API.Founded by Vladimira, Nadeem, and Naeem—a former fintech accelerator builder, the ex-CEO of Pakistan's largest fintech JazzCash, and a former Pakistani Minister of Investment—Neem went live in January 2025 and already powers 50+ enterprise clients including the country's largest logistics provider (2 million packages/day), three top insurers, and healthcare platforms serving millions of patients.With digital transactions growing 40% year over year and government backing the shift to cashless, Neem is laying the financial rails for 2.5 million+ underserved businesses in a market where Stripe, Razorpay, and Adyen don't operate.Angel investor Mahrukh Qadeer joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast.Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Eolic Wall - making wind energy as accessible and scalable as solar 11.10.2025 50p

Eolic Wall is a Peru-based renewable energy startup revolutionizing distributed wind generation. While 40% of solar capacity is distributed, less than 1% of wind energy is—because traditional turbines need massive scale to be efficient. Eolic Wall has cracked the code with the Eolic Cell, a 2x2x2 meter modular wind system that delivers utility-scale efficiency with 20x the power density of solar.Founded by Natalia and Alfredo, former bankers turned deep tech innovators, Eolic Wall uses proprietary aerodynamic geometry and magnetic levitation to achieve the same levelized cost of energy (LCOE) as traditional large-scale turbines—but in a compact, stackable format perfect for buildings, factories, and data centers.Angel investor Anna Itkin joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast.Hosted by Maaike Doyer, founder of Epic Angels.

BioPlaster Research - turning invasive algae into biodegradable materials - replace plastics and restore marine ecosystems 24.09.2025 45p

BioPlaster from Mexico transforms invasive sargassum algae into high-performance, certified biodegradable materials that replace petroleum-based plastics in packaging and textiles. Their product line includes compostable films, bags, foams, and threads designed for circularity, industrial scalability, and environmental impact. Listen to the story of Andrea and Daniel, Co-founders of BioPlaster Research, about how they’re taking the 38M metric tons of sargassum algae that washes up on the Caribbean coast every year and converting it into biodegradable solutions for the $900B plastic industry. They have over $5.3M in LOIs from partners like IKEA suppliers, Great Packaging, AbaMex, and our portfolio company Refurbi and will start commercialisation early 2026. Angel investors Lorena Compean and Stephanie Groen join the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast.Hosted by Maaike Doyer, founder of Epic Angels.

Refurbi - Turning Latin America's e-waste crisis into a profitable, circular smartphone business 28.08.2025 56p

Refurbi is transforming Latin America's massive e-waste problem into a profitable circular economy solution, generating $7.5M in annual revenue while making quality smartphones accessible to millions. With 1.3 million tons of electronic waste piling up annually and only 3% properly managed, co-founders Sebastian and Sylvia have built the region's most trusted refurbished device ecosystem.Listen to Sebastian share how they've achieved profitability from day one through data-driven operations, secured exclusive partnerships with Apple and Samsung, and created a business model so efficient they sell devices before paying suppliers. From their high-tech warehouse in Bogota to their expansion into Mexico's 30-40 million device market, discover how Refurbi is capturing the proven global refurbished smartphone opportunity that represents 20% of sales in developed markets but remains largely untapped in Latin America.At 39:35 sustainability expert Carolina Ocampo-Maya joins for the Investor Talk segment, sharing insights from her facility visit and why this circular economy model represents both strong returns and measurable environmental impact.Hosted by Maaike Doyer, founder of Epic Angels.

Salva Health - AI breast cancer detection for underserved women 09.07.2025 49p

Salva Health is tackling breast cancer screening accessibility with their portable device Julieta, which delivers screening results in under 5 minutes without requiring medical professionals or internet connectivity - reaching underserved women who would otherwise never get tested.Listen to the story of Valentina, the founder of Salva Health, as she tackles the challenge of late-stage breast cancer detection in Latin America and builds a scalable solution to bring life-saving screening to women in remote communities.Angel investor Luz Stella Gomez joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (24:00).Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Arogga - Bangladesh’s #1 Digital Pharmacy 11.06.2025 43p

Listen to the story of Rosina Mazumder and Yawar Mehboob from Arogga. Arogga is dedicated to tackling the challenges faced by the healthcare system in Bangladesh today - unregulated, small, poorly stocked pharmacies where 30% of the medicines available are counterfeit. By providing 100% genuine, convenient, and cheaper medicines, Arogga is Bangladesh's number 1 digital pharmacy. They are building the healthcare ecosystem in Bangladesh.At publication of this episode, Arogga is actively raising funds.Angel investor Megha Kalani joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (29:00).Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Altai Casting - A single platform for actors, agents, casting directors, and studios 20.05.2025 38p

Altai Casting from Australia is transforming the entertainment industry by connecting artists with global opportunities while streamlining workflows for casting directors, agents, and production clients, all through a single platform. Listen to the story of Renee and Josh, the founders of Altai, as they tackle the challenges of a manual and fragmented casting process through their platform that caters to the entire industry: from artists to studios. Angel investor Hayley Limpkin joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (24:00).Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Enaxiom - Patented data center cooling technology 19.05.2025 45p

Enaxiom is tackling water and energy consumption of data centers with their proprietary technology HydroCool which can cut liquid cooling electrical consumption up to 80% while improving data centers water footprint. Listen to the story of Tia and Bijan, the founders of Enaxiom, as they tackle the challenges of bio-manufacturing and unbundle the value chain for a more sustainable, cruelty-free future.Angel investor Megan Willis joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (33:00). Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Boost Capital - a B2B AI SaaS solution for financial institutions 28.03.2025 36p

Listen to the story of Lucinda Revell and Gordon Peters from Boost Capital. Headquartered in Singapore, Boost is the white-label AI platform, that enables financial institutions in emerging markets to reach their customers through messenger services. They add the neo-bank infrastructure to traditional financial institutions, which allows the customers of these banks to apply for loans, savings, and insurance products in 5 to 10 minutes. Boost helps the underbanked get access to financial products and brings financial institutions to success with new channels, rich data, and lower operating expenses.At publication of this episode, Boost Capital is actively raising funds. Angel investor Wei Ying Cheah joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (24:25).Hosted by Maaike Doyer and Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Opo Bio: cultivating meat from the cell up 20.02.2025 49p

Opo Bio is revolutionizing bio-manufacturing by solving one of the biggest bottlenecks in cultivated meat and collagen production—scalability. With their patented proprietary technology, they have developed a faster, more cost-effective way to grow high-quality cell lines, enabling a sustainable future for food, cosmetics, and medicine.Listen to the story of Olivia and Laura, the founders of Opo Bio, as they tackle the challenges of bio-manufacturing and unbundle the value chain for a more sustainable, cruelty-free future.Angel investor Nat Gibson joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (37:00). Hosted by Maaike Doyer & Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.

Muta: End waste & drive impact ♻️ 07.12.2024 57p

Muta wants to end waste. Muta wants to make sure that all the materials that are generated, are incorporated in the circular economy. With this vision, they want to be the leader in the market and transform the recycling industry. Listen to the story of Alejandro Caiaffa and Estefanía Abello Plata, the first Epic Angels LATAM portfolio company, on how they are revolutionizing the global recycling industry with their tech-enabled ecosystem approach. Angel investors Maria Carolina Romero, and Vivian Argueta join the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (39:40). Hosted by Maaike Doyer, founder of Epic Angels.

BusCaro - Pakistan's fastest growing mobility startup 22.11.2024 46p

Summer 2022: one bus and a founder with a big vision - to make public transport safe, reliable and affordable in Pakistan. Fast forward to 2024, this company is making US$ 4.4M ARR and has processed 10M+ bookings. ‘And we are only scratching the surface’, Founder & CEO Maha says.Listen to the story of Maha Shahzad, and how she is disrupting the transportation market, with high growth AND healthy unit economics. At publication of this episode, BusCaro is actively raising funds. Angel investor Meenal Khare joins the Investor Talk at the end of this podcast (31:20).Hosted by Maaike Doyer and Hester Spiegel, founders of Epic Angels.