Sonia Powar

Chair of the Investment Committee

Sonia Powar

Email: sonia.powar@frogcapital.com

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Sonia Powar

Growing up

I didn’t realise it at the time but I was surrounded by risk taking, bravery and entrepreneurship my entire childhood. My father, an immigrant from India came to the UK with his 2 brothers for a better future. They did every job available and then started creating their own businesses one after the other. Failure (or success!) did not stop them, they just came up with another idea and worked even harder. The journey and their accomplishments were life changing. 

Trailblazing and navigating my own path is inherent in my DNA as the eldest of five daughters. The five of us always believed we could do anything the boys could do and my sisters taught me how to receive and give brutally honest feedback, always learning and growing. 

Experience

At school I was the geek who loved Mathematics enough to do a degree in it. I qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC in London and then moved to 3i plc, UK’s leading private equity and growth capital investor. I worked with ambitious management teams, experienced exciting growth sectors and had a front row seat to how people use their passion to build great businesses.  

The entrepreneurial bug was starting to bite and I wanted to see what I could achieve without a big brand behind my name. I joined a venture debt start-up in the alternative lending space called BOOST&Co as a Partner. From humble beginnings in a tiny office with a couple of colleagues, over 8 years we built the business into a top 5 non-bank lender to SMEs in the UK specialising in the TMT space.   

We created a distinctive culture, recruited a diverse team of 60 professionals across the UK and Cape Town and provided capital to over 150 portfolio companies. It wasn’t easy and there were many unforeseen hurdles but the vision, passion and commitment from everyone made it exciting, adventurous and successful. Scaling a business is a unique experience and an exceptional learning ground. 

At Frog Capital

The team at Frog have turned scale-up into a methodology, making sure teams benefit from all the learnings and expertise that they have accumulated to achieve their mission. They are working with exciting, fast growing and dynamic software companies across Europe and I am delighted to be joining them on that journey. 

I am passionate about using my experience, network and skills in a way that is positive at a much higher level than just any one business or individual. That’s why i focus on working with organisations and investments that are adding value in some way, shape or form to the planet, people or society . This for me is responsible investing and the most sustainable type of activity we here at Frog can lead on.

Introductory interview

Sonia Powar

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Sonia Powar