Helios Investment Partners

Christopher North is a Partner at Helios Investment Partners LLP and Co-Head of its climate investing strategy, the Helios CLEAR Fund SCSp, with roughly 19 years of experience in energy, infrastructure, and sustainability as an investor, lender, developer, and advisor. He previously was a senior leader in McKinsey's Capital Projects & Infrastructure practice in Nairobi, led USAID's Power Africa program in Kenya, and headed an energy and infrastructure investment banking team at Standard Bank. Earlier in his career he developed, built, and sold wind, anaerobic digestion, and in-vessel composting facilities in the UK. He holds an MBA from Saïd Business School (University of Oxford) and B.Sc. (Mathematics) and B.Com. (Hons) (Actuarial Science) degrees from the University of Pretoria.

Faris Ayoub is a Partner in the Helios Sports & Entertainment Strategy Group (HSEG), focusing on private equity investing in Africa's sports and entertainment sectors. He previously spent 15 years in Hong Kong where he founded a consumer-focused private equity firm, and earlier worked at JP Morgan for a decade in Leveraged Finance in London and later Principal Investments in Hong Kong, with an interim stint at Helios Investment Partners' maiden fund. He holds an MA in Economics and Politics from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in International History from the London School of Economics.

Guy Willner joined Helios in December 2022 as Managing Director in the Digital Infrastructure Investment Team, with over two decades of experience in data centre development, scaling, and exits across Europe and Africa. He founded IXEurope in 1998, grew it into a 14-site platform across four European countries, listed it on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market in 2006, and sold it to Equinix in 2007, later serving as President of Equinix's European division until 2008. He holds a BSc in Engineering from Oxford Polytechnic (Oxford Brookes University).

Luciana Germinario is Chief Operating Officer at Helios, where she oversees operations including finance, administration, human resources, compliance, and firm strategy, having joined in September 2022. She previously served as Group CFO and Executive Director at John Laing Group plc, CFO of Eight Roads (Fidelity International's proprietary investment arm) for 12 years, and spent eight years at General Electric, including as CFO of a GE Healthcare division. She holds a BA from Universita' Commerciale L. Bocconi and an executive MBA from IMD in Switzerland, and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Sola Carrena has more than 22 years of professional experience, largely focused on buying and selling companies across a range of sectors in Africa. Before joining Helios in September 2022, she spent 10 years at Stanbic IBTC Capital as Executive Director and Head of Corporate Finance, and earlier worked at Travant Capital Partners, Ocean and Oil Holdings, Accenture, and Procter and Gamble. She holds an MSc in Economics and Finance from the University of Alberta and a BSc in Economics from the University of Lagos, and is a CFA charterholder.

Tavraj Banga is a Partner and Co-Head of Climate Investments at Helios, which he joined in 2019. He has about 20 years of investment experience across developed and emerging markets in industries such as renewable energy, waste management, transport, financial services, real estate, and technology, having previously worked at the private equity firm Terra Firma and started his career as an M&A investment banker in New York on cross-border deals. He holds a BSc in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tope Lawani is a co-founder and Managing Partner with 25 years of principal investment experience. He previously was a Principal at TPG Capital in its San Francisco and London offices, where he worked on leveraged buyout and venture capital investments including Burger King, Debenhams, J. Crew Group and Scottish & Newcastle Retail, and began his career as an M&A and Corporate Development Analyst at the Walt Disney Company. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT, a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Vitali Harwardt is a finance leader with nearly two decades of experience spanning private equity, public markets and international operations, with a focus on capital markets, M&A and strategic finance in multi-jurisdictional settings. He most recently was Managing Director and CFO at a European private equity firm, and previously served as Group CFO at a global technology-focused investment firm, along with senior finance roles at a listed technology group and a European media and technology company. He holds an MBA and is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Tax Advisor.

Wale Ayeni is Managing Partner and Co-head of Helios Digital Ventures, with over 18 years of experience in technology and venture capital. He previously served as Head of Direct Venture Capital Investments at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he built its venture capital practice in Africa, and earlier led venture investments in Silicon Valley for Orange after roles as a microprocessor design engineer at Intel and Qualcomm and in JP Morgan's Technology Investment Banking group. He holds an MBA from Dartmouth College and a bachelor's degree from Moscow University, and focuses on Series B+ founder-led tech companies with an African nexus.

Zineb Abbad El Andaloussi joined Helios in 2017 as a Partner on the Investment Team, with over two decades of experience in investment banking and corporate advisory across Europe and Africa. She previously was Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division at Rothschild in Paris, worked on European M&A across financial services, telecom, and consumer goods, and helped build Rothschild's M&A advisory franchise in Morocco and Francophone Africa, later becoming Head of Africa. She holds a degree from École Centrale Paris with a major in Economics and serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Banque Centrale Populaire and CACEIS.

Rupeen Khagram is a finance professional with over 18 years of experience across private equity, asset management, and corporate finance, with a focus on LP reporting, valuations, financial structuring, and financial controls. He joined Helios in 2008, overseeing financial operations, and previously worked in KPMG London's Private Equity Advisory Group. He holds a BA (Hons) in Business Economics from Nottingham Business School and is a Fellow of the ICAEW.

Tosin Awoyinka is a Principal on the PE Team at Helios, which he joined in August 2018. He previously worked at TPG/Greensphere Capital as a Vice President in Sustainable Infrastructure Investments, at Evercore focused on Infrastructure and Transportation M&A, and began his career at Citi in its Infrastructure and Transportation group and M&A group. He holds an MA in Economics and Management from Hertford College, University of Oxford, and works on digital infrastructure investments across Africa.

Dominic Leong is a Vice President on the private equity team at Helios, which he joined in September 2022, where he leads investments in tech-enabled business services. He previously served as a Vice President at Emerging Capital Partners in Johannesburg, as an Associate Director at Ventura Capital, and began his career at Delta Partners Corporate Finance executing TMT M&A transactions across Africa and Southeast Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Business Science in Quantitative Finance from the University of Cape Town and is a CFA charterholder.

Paul Cunningham joined Helios in 2008 as Chief Financial Officer, with a background of over 36 years in private equity finance, administration, and financial control. At the firm he handles accounting, financial control, taxation, fund administration, reporting, regulatory compliance, deal and fund structuring, LPA negotiations, and chairs the Valuation Committees. He previously served as CFO and COO at Barclays Private Equity and held senior finance roles at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Whinney in 1989, and holds a mathematics degree from Imperial College London.

Phil Davis joined Helios in August 2020 and leads the firm's ESG activities across the investment lifecycle, with over 18 years of experience in sustainability across consulting and private equity in more than 25 countries. He previously served as Head of Sustainability for EMEA at The Carlyle Group, and held roles at PwC's Sustainability and Climate Change Consulting team and at AMEC Earth & Environmental UK. He holds a BSc in Environmental Management from the University of Birmingham and sits on the PRI Private Equity Committee.

Raed Barkatis is an investment professional with over ten years of experience in private equity and investment banking. At Helios, which he joined in 2018, he leads the firm's consumer non-discretionary strategy and has worked on transactions across education, retail, healthcare, FMCG, and agribusiness. He previously worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse in London and holds a Master in Management from ESCP Europe in France.

Tolu Akinboboye joined Helios in 2024 as an Investor Relations Associate. Before that, Tolu worked as an Institutional Sales Associate at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and in Investor Operations at Man Group. Tolu holds a BA in Political Economy from King's College London and has earned the Investment Management Certification.

Virginia Doble is Global Head of Investor Relations at Helios, which she joined in 2023 from Chiltern Capital LLP, where she was Investor Relations Partner. She previously served as a Managing Director at Actis LLP leading EMEA fundraising and sales, and spent over a decade as Investor Relations Director at Sovereign Capital Partners. She holds an MPhil in Anthropology and Development from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Durham.