Team

As an Africa-based Portfolio Advisor, Karen Serem Waithaka is part of DRK’s ecosystem of support for our early-stage portfolio organizations, providing critical relationships to sourcing and funding partners in Africa.

Karen specializes in impact investing within the Private Equity and Venture Capital sector in Africa. She comes to DRK from Global Partnerships Social Venture Fund, where she held the role of Investment Director and engaged with portfolio partners while cultivating impact-first early-stage social enterprises.

In 2017 she founded Ertan Consulting Ltd., an advisory firm focusing on the venture capital and private equity space in Africa, where she connected and supported viable start-ups that required funding. Karen’s impressive career history includes being an Investment Manager at Safaricom Spark Venture Fund and an Investment Associate at TBL Mirror Fund. The experience she acquired with risk analysis, deal sourcing, financial analysis, and dispute resolution is an invaluable asset as she guides complete deal cycles within the DRK portfolio.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. She has also received her Master of Finance in Funds Management from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Karen is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Nairobi, Kenya.