Success Story of Gazelle Finance by Natia Janelidze

The process of financing small and medium-sized enterprises in the Eurasian region can be challenging, but the professional team of Gazelle Finance successfully copes with myriad challenges and keeps growing. Despite only being operational for a few years, the fund has already made numerous significant investments and plans to expand into Ukraine in the near future.

Diplomat spoke to Natia Janelidze, the Chief Investment Officer and the Executive Director for Georgia, to learn how Gazelle Finance works, how they deal with challenges in the market, how they manage to invest money correctly, and how they gain investor’s trust.

When I joined Gazelle Finance the fund was still in the process of formation, and we were fundraising by actively working with potential investors. It was an extremely interesting process for me, as prior to joining Gazelle Finance, I worked in the banking sector where my main responsibility was to invest money correctly and did not include fundraising process, where you not only sell your ideas, you also sell products, and your opinions to bring profit to an investor, and you also get to promote your country. It was a very bold step since there had not been a fund like this in Georgia until that time; therefore, this process was challenging, exciting, and very rewarding for me.

We can say that Gazelle Finance is a very successful project today because we have invested in more than 40 companies, performed 60 transactions, and closed 14 companies successfully. This means that the companies have grown, attracted new sources of financing and reached a new level of development. The fund has faced many challenges in its seven years of existence, but we haven’t had any nonperforming projects in Georgia.

If I’m not mistaken, you are the first and only woman in Georgia who manages an investment fund. Before that, you worked in the banking industry, in well-known companies, but suddenly you have to build a new company from scratch. How did you manage to succeed?

Being the first one is not something I like to emphasize, all of it came together very organically. I am proud to have worked for this company since its inception and to have contributed and put my efforts into single detail, starting from printing business cards to participating in building the team around Gazelle that we now call Gazelle family. I personally found each of these stages very interesting, but I am most proud that we demonstrated to foreign investors and international financial institutions that the investment fund model can work in Georgia. And this should be a precursor to the creation of other similar funds as the creation of nonbank financial institutions is one of the prerequisites for the development of capital markets in Georgia.

When operating in Georgia, what challenges do you face and how do you handle them?

Risks fall into two categories; one that cannot be controlled and one that can be assessed and minimized. For example, we cannot change geography, because it is a conflict-ridden region, and when you work in terms of investment, it has a very large impact. Additionally, there is internal instability; however, when working with an investor, it is imperative that these risks be fully discussed, not neglected.

Another significant challenge is that Georgia has a small market, which is not attractive to large investors. Furthermore, Georgia needs a lot of foreign investments because it is not some country rich in natural resources. Consequently, the country’s attractiveness of location, cheap labor, favorable business environment, and other advantages may be the ready-made formula for attracting foreign investors. Therefore, large companies should be motivated to invest in Georgia despite its small size, since they are able to export their products and services. Instead of looking at Georgia as another potential market, which, as I mentioned, isn’t attractive due to its small size, they should see it as a hub for their businesses.

What are your fund’s immediate plans?

As the second fund is likely to be closed soon, perhaps during this year, we are considering adding Ukraine as the third country, and we hope that the situation there will allow us to do so, provided investors are willing to support Ukrainian businesses. Moldova was also discussed as we would like to unite the Eastern Partnership countries in our portfolio; if we look at the long term, we might include Central Asian countries too.

Among our upcoming plans is a conference for women leaders scheduled for March 27, which will feature Rachel Kyte, Dean of Fletcher University’s School of Law and Diplomacy. Rachel is a well-known figure in the field. In addition to having the US ambassador and probably the President of Georgia as guest speakers, several interesting panels will be hosted which will also feature women invited from various countries and sectors within Georgia and abroad. Throughout the event, we intend to discuss ‘women in leadership’, whether it is in the financial sector or in general, and we look forward to very interesting discussions in this regard. We will also have a Ukrainian colleague who will lead our investment fund work in Ukraine as one of our panelists.

As you mentioned women in leadership, I’d like to know what qualities helped you to attain leadership positions?

The qualities of responsibility, target-orientation, hard work, ambition, listening culture and self-confidence (only if it is earned as a result of doing a lot of things well, otherwise self-confidence is merely stubbornness). I find that accepting simplicity helps me a lot when time is the biggest problem, and if simple things work, then it isn’t stupid in any way to do things in simple ways – in other words, don’t overthink. The principle “don’t make perfect to be the enemy of good” refers to this; because processes move so fast, and there is rarely time for perfectionism. if the result is satisfactory in some cases, don’t waste time until it is perfected, just keep moving forward. In addition, I like smart people and I’m not the type of manager who is afraid of smart people and puts them in shadow out of fear of being overshadowed. Each member of our team is a great asset to our company. By the way, we have several female leaders in the fund, including our CFO and the Head of ESG and Sustainable Development Department.

In order to earn investors’ trust, you need to demonstrate your personal and professional qualities. Personal confidence is a result of doing things decently and accurately.

How can women at the start of their careers today fully realize themselves and their potential? What advice do you have for them?

In my opinion, they should learn and develop constantly, while expressing what they truly believe and standing up for what they deserve. Don’t give up on challenges if they don’t work; keep going forward no matter what.