Lise Birikundavyi

Lise Birikundavyi is the Managing Partner of BKR Capital, the first institutionally-backed black-led VC fund in Canada. Lise is an innovative finance specialist who has worked with several international institutions, most notably the Jacobs Foundation for whom she managed an edtech impact investment strategy. Lise also mentors and supports highly promising and impactful start-ups in emerging markets.

Lise began her career in the hedge fund industry in Montreal and her interest in mixing attractive financial returns with long term societal impact is what inspired her to transition to the impact finance sector. She has experience across the investment spectrum: from funds of funds and VCs, to being the transition CEO of a tech start-up.

Lise is a CFA charterholder; she also holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, where she wrote her thesis on impact investing, and a trilingual BBA from HEC Montreal. Lise is fluent in French, English and Spanish, and has a conversational level of Mandarin. She is a firm believer in using the forces of capital markets as a basis for more inclusive wealth creation and sustainable poverty alleviation.

Education

• HEC Montréal
  BAA, Cohorte Trilingue, Finance

• Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
  Master of Business Administration (MBA)

• Universidad de Belgrano
  Finanzas

• Stanford University
  Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate

Awards and Nominations

• 2021 Refinery29 Powerhouses
• 2022 Top25 Women of Influence
• BWAM 40 under 40
• 2022 Afropolitan Leadership Award
• Nominated 2022 DMZ Woman of the year
• Woman of Influence in Private Markets 2022 by Private Equity International