New funds to power IT in emerging markets

Also known as «enable.digital», the Zurich based Catalyst is dedicated to addressing the IT needs of companies that provide essential products and services in emerging markets. The startup integrates any software application and data storage solutions into a seamless digital system to provide quick access to a team of IT experts with experience in solving the IT issues of fast growing business in emerging markets.

The company has now closed the seed financing round led by Persistent, an investment firm that invests in companies that create sustainable socio-economic impact. Persistent received support from Shell Foundation through a grant money contribution. Kai Hansen, the former employee at Google, along with two advisory board members also invested in the round.

According to the startup, the contribution of various players to this round demonstrates the trust and confidence in its vision and business plan. The funds will be used to accelerate further steps along its growth journey.

Kai joins Catalyst as Head of Product after more than a decade at Google. At Google, he held a variety of roles in Operations and Product Management, most recently as Product Manager on Google Shopping, where he focused on complex retail business logic across various B2B aspects of the platform. Kai will bring with him more than a decade worth of experience in building global products and scaling operations teams to deliver against aggressive goals.

 “Throughout my time at Google ubiquitous access to information has become something we now take for granted, something that was unimaginable a generation ago. At the same time, hundreds of millions of people today do not have access to food, clean water or electricity. Catalyst’s mission is to change this by enabling high potential companies in emerging markets to grow rapidly and provide essential and sustainable products and services for everyone on the planet. I’m incredibly excited to contribute to this mission and help accelerate another major, generational transformation,” says Hansen.