Geofrey is a finance and accounting specialist. Currently, he works as Monitoring and Evaluation and Collection officer at Balloon Ventures. Before, he was a Deal Origination Officer and Loans Officer. He has also worked as an Accountant at Bomet College of Accountancy. Geofrey is a Certified Public Accountant and holds Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from Kenyatta University.

Gladys is a finance specialist with a passion for monitoring and evaluation. She works with Balloon as a deal origination officer in charge of recruiting SMEs for investment support. She previously worked as a business development officer with Valuemax Consulting ltd in charge of business recruitment and business forums for professional consultancy and as an administrator with Kenya Institute of monitoring and evaluation studies. Gladys also worked with SCODE, an NGO that deals in renewable energy, mainly in data collection, report writing and community empowerment. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Egerton University and an MA in Monitoring and Evaluation from Mount Kenya University.

Loise is a finance and operations specialist with 10 experience in Kenya’s capital markets. She has worked for Suntra and Dyer and Blair Investment Banks delivering investment services in various capacities. Her skillsets include Customer Relationship Management, Portfolio Management, Financial Analysis, Brokerage and Custody Operations, Dealing (OTC and ATS), Risk Assessment and Mitigation, Strategy Formulation and Implementation as well as Project Management.

Matia is an SME Development and Start-ups Investments professional with over 10 years’ experience in Consulting, Innovation Advisory and Ecosystem building. This experience spans over 8 countries in 3 continents including Africa, Europe and the US. He has held senior executive and consulting roles in corporate and non-profit organizations, as well as Multilateral organisations including the World Bank (Infodev), and Equity Bank; the largest retail bank in East Africa. His experience includes the management of a USD 5 million Start-up fund as Chief of Party; delivering growth support for 3000 start-ups and SMEs through physical and virtual incubation programmes and leading gender mainstreaming in entrepreneurial ecosystems in Africa. He also has hands-on experience leading product development teams in the design of financial products for bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market segments, Start-ups and SMEs as Head of Innovation. He holds a bachelors degree in Computer Engineering and a Masters in Organisational Development from the United States International University.

Keter is a credit analyst with over 5 years experience in credit management. He currently works as a Senior Loans Officer at Balloon Ventures where he provides administrative support to credit and risk management. He also leads the revenue assurance department where he reviews all credit requests and ensures compliance with standard regulations before disbursement. He previously worked at FEP Sacco Society Ltd as a loans officer. He holds a bachelor of commerce from Egerton University.

Kariah is a banking and entrepreneurship professional with over 6 years’ experience working in the Sacco Industry in Kenya and running various businesses. He has successfully grown a loan book of $4.5M at Unaitas (branch level) through working as a Relationship Officer and a Credit Administrator. At Balloon he manages a portfolio of 6+ SMES whose KPIs indicate tremendous growth to date. His skillsets include credit management, financial analysis, consultancy, relationship management and business development. Kariah has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Purchasing and Supplies, CIPS.

Saraphina is currently Programme Coordinator for the Citi Volunteer Africa programme. Prior to this she worked at Balloon as a Programme Coordinator for International Citizen Service where she managed groups of volunteers aged 18-25 who would work with local small businesses.

Virginia is a data analyst with a passion in entrepreneurship. She currently work as an Investment Manager at Balloon Ventures where she manages a portfolio of 6 enterprises. She previously worked in the Capital Markets at Suntra Investment Bank for 9 years in various capacities as an equity researcher, portfolio manager, investment banker and corporate finance. She has also worked for The Exchange Africa, an East African financial publisher as a coordinator for the Kenyan Bureau. She hold a MSc in Social Statistics from University of Nairobi and a BSc in Actuarial Science from JKUAT.