Maheen Rahman On Raising $50 Million To Build A Credit Enhancement Company To Issue Guarantees For Promoting Private Infrastructure Projects

In a rapidly changing world, navigating uncertainty, building scalable solutions, and creating positive social impact are more critical than ever. These were the focal points of the conversation with Maheen Rahman, a trailblazing entrepreneur and finance leader who has raised a balance sheet capability of over $400M.

Her company, Infra Zamin. has attracted funding from top-tier investors like InfraCo Asia Investments and Karandaaz Pakistan.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Embrace change: Maheen Rahman highlights how adapting to change throughout life helped her thrive in uncertain environments.
• Finance isn’t rocket science: Building a strong foundation in financial principles can open doors across various sectors and opportunities.
• Restructuring is tough but necessary: Successfully turning around a failing company requires difficult decisions, such as workforce reductions, but can lead to long-term growth and profitability.
• Acquisitions can unlock growth: Rahman emphasizes the importance of scaling through mergers, especially for smaller companies aiming to expand their market reach.
• Impact-driven finance: Through Infra Zamin, Rahman is working to provide access to capital for underserved sectors, catalyzing growth in developing markets.
• Scaling isn’t always direct: Creating self-sustaining frameworks, like encouraging banks to lend without guarantees, is key to achieving long-term, scalable impact.
• Business with a purpose: Rahman believes in balancing commercial success with social good, citing examples like helping rebuild after natural disasters through innovative financial instruments.

 

SUBSCRIBE ON:

For a winning deck, see the commentary on a pitch deck from an Uber competitor that has raised over $400M (see it here). 

Remember to unlock for free the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below.

About Maheen Rahman:

Maheen has over twenty years of experience in investment banking, research, and asset management.

Currently she serves as the Chief Executive Officer of InfraZamin Pakistan, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (UK) company, and has played a crucial part in setting up operations and developing a project pipeline.

Under her stewardship, InfraZamin is fast establishing itself as a key player in financial markets with a view to catalyse private sector investment into infrastructure projects.

In her previous appointment, Maheen served as the Chief Executive of Alfalah GHP Investment Management where, under her leadership, Alfalah Investments has grown to be one of the largest asset management companies in Pakistan.

Prior to that, Maheen was the Chief Executive of IGI Funds, Head of Research at BMA Capital Management, Corporate Finance Associate at ABN AMRO Bank, and Investment Banking Analyst at Merrill Lynch. She has the experience of working across multiple geographies during her career.

Maheen has been featured on Fortune’s “40 Under 40’s women to watch” list, in 2015.

She is currently Independent Director at GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan, Director for the British Overseas School, Director Nasra Public Schools, Advisor to Katalyst Labs, Director at Khaadi, and Director of Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan.

She is also the former Director of Special Technology Zones Authority, Pakistan, former Chairperson and Director of the Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan, former Director Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance, and former Member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Restructuring of Evacuee Property Trust Board.

In addition to her extensive work experience and professional achievements, Maheen holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), and a Master of Science in Finance and Economics from Warwick Business School in the UK.

She also has several capital markets certifications including Series 7 from the New York Stock Exchange, and is a certified Independent Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance

Connect with Maheen Rahman:

• LinkedIn
• MarketScreener
• Crunchbase
• RocketReach

Read the Full Transcription of the Interview:

Alejandro Cremades: All right. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Deal Maker Show. So today we have a very exciting founder ah that is joining us. you know She is a powerhouse. you know We’re going to be talking about raising money. On their end, you know they’ve done you know quite a bit. you know All in all, you know if you aggregate everything, we’re talking about 400 million. ah They are actually right in this rocket ship where we’re going to be talking to about how to think about building a product um that really you know covers a gap in the market, how to think about scale, as well as how to think about not just commercial um when you’re thinking about building a business, but then also about doing good for the world. So again, the building

Alejandro Cremades: financing, scaling, and all of the above is something that we’re going to be covering today, which we love to hear. And praise yourself for a very inspiring conversation. So without further ado, let’s welcome our guest today, Mahin Rahman. Welcome to the show.

Maheen Rahman: Hi, thank you, it’s great to be here.

Alejandro Cremades: So originally born in Pakistan, Mahin, but you were raised everywhere. So how was life growing up for you? Give us a walk through memory lane.

Maheen Rahman: ah Sure, so i was I was born here in Pakistan in Lahore, but I grew up effectively, I think in the UK. And I also spent a little bit of time in Africa, which was interesting. um So I think by the time I graduated high school, I had done about six different schools. um So naturally sort of got very good at getting to know people quickly and then maintaining those friendships and relationships through life which I think is kind of the best part of switching so many different schools and and and growing up that way. um So yes I moved back to Pakistan in 2005 and I’ve been here since so it’s been about 20 years now um and it’s been a very interesting ride.

Alejandro Cremades: So one thing there ah that is really interesting to what you just mentioned is you were in, I think by the time that the you were graduating, you know you you were probably already in seven prior schools and that is new places, new friends, new everything. How do you think that the experience of jumping from one place to the next really shaped who you are and then also how you’re able to be with uncertainty?

Maheen Rahman: I think it helped me realize that change is a constant in life. um And you can’t get too attached to certain ways of doing things or places or people, and I think embrace change. And I think that’s what I learned very early on, I think as a child, um that you know if I was going to be shifting schools and people and countries every three years or so,

Maheen Rahman: Then naturally, I was going to have to adapt pretty quickly um and and realize that change is really something that leads to growth. And I think that’s something that’s actually carried me all through life. It’s kind of embracing that change rather than resisting it.

Alejandro Cremades: And what about finance? What cut your eye on about finance?

Maheen Rahman: So that’s an interesting story. So I think way back, I think mine must have been grade 11 or grade 12 or something like that. I read a book called Liars Poker. And it was a big, big sort of hit at the time among the Wall Street types. And it was all about the 1980s and Wall Street and, you know, how the mortgage market was developing, how the bond market, the stock market was developing. And I just found that absolutely fascinating. um So within that was kind of born this desire to learn more about finance. And so I went to college, studied more about it. And I think for me, it was a no brainer once I graduated college that this is where I wanted to build my career. So that’s where I started.

Alejandro Cremades: And obviously in your case, too, you decided to go into corporate now and to you know to kind of like join some of those bigger operations such as like Merrill Lynch, ABN, Amro Bank.

Maheen Rahman: Mm hmm.

Alejandro Cremades: how How was it like experiencing those larger shops?

Maheen Rahman: I think you you’re you’re grounding in terms of your understanding of finance is is developed exceptionally well by these large institutions. I think Merrill sent sent me on a training course, which is over three months.

Maheen Rahman: um And then they really do grill you. I mean, I’ve done the 18-hour days. I’ve done the all-nighters. I’ve done that investment banking routine way back in sort of the early 2000. And I do think that, you know, that skill set, which I learned at that time at Merrill, at IBM Amrow, really has held me up through life. I mean, you know, that grounding has been intense, but it has been exceptional in terms of my understanding of how finance truly works.

Maheen Rahman: Um, and you know, we, we all say that it just looks very daunting from the outside, but you know, on the inside, it really isn’t rocket science. It’s about, you know, using techniques and tools, um, within the financial sphere to just do different sort of things for you. Um, so I often, I often sort of tell people that, you know, this is not a rocket science or this is not daunting. You should really learn the basics of finance and then you can pretty much apply it everywhere in life.

Alejandro Cremades: So for you, eventually you ended up and joining IGI funds, but it was more of a restructuring type of um initiative for you.

Maheen Rahman: and

Maheen Rahman: thank

Alejandro Cremades: I mean, and then and then after that you went through an acquisition, no?

Maheen Rahman: yes

Alejandro Cremades: But restructuring, how how difficult is to do a restructuring?

Maheen Rahman: it

Maheen Rahman: Very hard. So this was an asset management company that had burned through about 40% of its baseline equity. um And, ah you know, the sponsors, the shareholders, they were not happy with their previous CEO. um So I got the opportunity at a very young age. I mean, I think I was just 32 to take over an asset management company that was running deep, deep losses. um And I took it as a challenge because, you know, let’s face it, at 32, you can afford to make some mistakes. I mean, what’s the worst that could have happened to me um at that point in time if I hadn’t succeeded?

Maheen Rahman: um So getting into this, this was back in 2009, so you have to understand we were just coming out of the global financial crisis. Asset management everywhere was taken a beating, right? Markets everywhere had struggled. um So restoring investor confidence was really hard.

Maheen Rahman: um And then at the same time, you had an asset management company that was just running losses. um So we went through a very difficult restructuring cycle that took about six to 12 months in which we, I would say, you know, we had to let go of almost 70% of the workforce.

Maheen Rahman: And that I think was the hardest part because you’re dealing with people and you’re dealing with the you know people that have been with the company perhaps ah you know a long time. um But you know once we got through that difficult year, we were able to restructure the company. We were able to give better investment returns to our you know investors and shareholders. um And then come 2013, we were acquired by a much larger group. um So you know the return to profitability took us about 15 months.

Maheen Rahman: um And then we had a already an offer on the table because the sponsors were looking to sell out. So we had an offer on the table for the company within, I would say, 36 months of me taking over. um And so, you know, we we were able to sell out and be acquired by much larger shareholders and a much larger financial group at the time.

Alejandro Cremades: so So then in this case, you know for you, i mean ultimately the company got acquired. and And I guess going through an acquisition, what what what is that like?

Maheen Rahman: So it’s tough. um The thing is, with an acquisition, you know and it’s it was a requirement of the business. So if you look at it dispassionately, if you’re a small asset manager, um you don’t have met much in terms of distribution. You’re really just doing very small scale institutional business. After a while, your growth is going to get stunted. um And you know some people are happy to go with that. I mean, you have asset managers that sit on very small amounts of of money, $50 million, $100 million, $200 million. dollars But that’s not the real fun, right? The real fun in asset management is getting to size and scale, because that’s when you you know you get taken seriously by larger investors. um you know You have many more opportunities in terms of distribution. So this company, um IGI Funds, which I was part of, needed to shift its shareholding structure away from sort of family-owned groups

Maheen Rahman: towards large-scale financial institutions that had the breadth and the width and distribution capability to take the firm to another level. And so the the merger just made absolute sense. I mean, you know, Alphalal was a much larger group. It also had a struggling asset management company. um And so when they made a bid for this, the merger just, you know, worked from the financial perspective. But naturally, it was obviously going to be really hard to bring together two companies. And I think that’s what my job was initially in the first year or two.

Maheen Rahman: um to see which people um would be retained, you know, how the systems would be integrated. I mean, it’s a basic thing of where are we’re going to sit as a unified force, you know, which office do we sit in, right? um And those were sort of decisions we had to make from ground up. um So really, it’s like recreating an entirely new company from you know, sort of from two different entities that now have to be brought together. um The other thing that really impacts you during these changes is culture. um You can have two different sets of people and two different sets of employees, both with very different cultural mindsets and very different ideas of how each institution is. um So I think unifying and finding a new culture that was born from both institutions

Maheen Rahman: um that was That was also a big primary focus. And I’m very happy that we succeeded. um And within, I think, a year and a half to two years of the merger, we really were on very smooth sailing as far as a lot of the issues are concerned.

Alejandro Cremades: And then from there, you’re going to Alfala to where you became the chief executive. um And this was ultimately the immediate step before you became a co-founder, I mean, ah an entrepreneur yourself no with the infra-summon.

Maheen Rahman: Right.

Alejandro Cremades: So what were the sequences of events that needed to happen? Because I mean, at this point, you were in the corporate world for quite a bit you know since the late 90s.

Alejandro Cremades: So I mean, it’s it’s obviously, it’s it’s risky to become an entrepreneur. So what pushed you in that direction, given that everything that you knew was just being incorporated and being an employee?

Maheen Rahman: So I think the interesting thing is that after a while, I did 12 years of asset management, 12 years of raising funds, of creating that new new, I was creating a large institution. I felt I had done pretty much everything that I came to do at Alfa. I had certain personal goals for myself.

Maheen Rahman: I managed to achieve them, I had certain targets. And I think by the end of it, I was looking for what next, right? um And um I was approached by um the the sponsors of Infrazamen, and they came with a very unique proposition, right? They came with an idea of impact finance, and I think that’s what interested me. ah But naturally, the shift was very risky. I was going from a institution with over 250 people, which I was heading,

Maheen Rahman: um which was part of a massive financial group, um into a pretty unknown a sort of brand, um which was really just sort of appealing to me on a very basic idea. And that basic idea was how do we ensure access to finance in developing markets where finance is so difficult?

Maheen Rahman: to obtain, right? And I think that was the sort of, you know, it just kind of ignited that interest in me that but can this work? Can this access to finance piece work?

Maheen Rahman: And the more I sort of talked to them, um and this was the Private Infrastructure Development Group, which is based out of the UK, the more the idea began to really appeal. um And I think I was sort of interested anyway in seeing how we could do development finance. And here was a really interesting and unique way to create opportunities for others.

Maheen Rahman: um Others who were interested in starting their own businesses, others who were interested in large-scale private sector infrastructure projects to raise money from the local domestic capital markets, um which which sort of at the moment were just kind of a sort of playground of the very large business groups.

Maheen Rahman: So we were kind of fighting for the little guy. We were fighting for the guy who was not going to get access to that kind of capital um without us. And I think that’s where the idea just grabbed me. And so as a result of those conversations, I agreed to leave, um you know, a job that I really enjoyed at Alfela. But to kind of take that challenge and move into a field which was new, completely brand new in terms of the scale and the size and whatever we were trying to achieve um and see how I could do it. So I did start off ah really at the being the first employee. So I was the company secretary, I was the CFO, I was the you know marketing head. i was just So you know at the end of the day, I went from being a very high end CEO into

Maheen Rahman: a business which really had to be built from absolute ground zero. um And I’m very happy to say that the last three-year journey has been incredibly rewarding so far.

Alejandro Cremades: that’s amazing So for the people that are listening to get it, what ended up being the business model of infraam and

Maheen Rahman: Right, so what we do is we provide credit guarantees. We provide guarantee solutions to the private sector, to companies. Um, which can’t find that financing elsewhere. So for example, Alejandro needs to go to a bank. Uh, he needs money to set up a new project or a new manufacturing line, or even just put a solar solar panels on his rooftop. He can’t seem to get the bank to listen to him because the bank is like, Hey, we don’t know you. We don’t understand your risk. Um, or you, do we just consider you to re you know, risky to lend to.

Maheen Rahman: um So this is where Infra-Zaman comes in. So Alejandro approaches Infra-Zaman and he says, can you give me a credit guarantee which I can take to the bank? um And suppose we like the project, we do our due diligence, um we run the numbers on it and we give you a credit guarantee which you can take to the bank and you know they will lend against our collateral or our guarantee as opposed to you. So actually the bank, you know we’re taking the risk and we’re taking your risk onto our balance sheet and allowing the bank um that comfort so that they can lend to you. So we’ve just unlocked

Maheen Rahman: a piece of lending or piece of capital access which may not have happened in the past without us. So that’s the kind of catalytic impact that we want to bring into markets like this and in the last three years we have actually demonstrated that in some really interesting transactions.

Alejandro Cremades: And also talk about um fundraising too, because i mean you you have all been quite successful there and also that’s a piece of of what you do. So um how much capital all in all have you raised and what is the breakdown too of that?

Maheen Rahman: Yeah, so the so the company started up with about $50 million dollars of capital. We are able to now leverage that to issue $400 million dollars of guarantees in the market already.

Maheen Rahman: um We are looking to see how we can raise additional capital next year. But for now, I think our balance sheet is quite steady, quite strong. We further have um alliances with various other sort of institutions to do grant financing. So we do also do grant financing as well for you know sort of capacity building in the markets or to bring down transaction costs. I mean, a lot of the time, sometimes you know ah companies come to us and they don’t want to bear that costs of transactions. So we actually raised that grant financing to bring down overall transaction costs for companies as well. So we try and see where we can fit in combinations of grant, combinations of equity, and then leverage our balance sheet um to to really stretch our capital. I mean, you imagine yourself with just $50 million dollars of equity, we are able to do $400 million dollars of guarantee issuance, right? So that gives us a lot of size and scope. and

Maheen Rahman: This keeps multiplying, so the way we are structured, an additional 50 million dollars would would double our capacity. to do more guarantee frameworks. That’s just the way we structure the entire capital base. So you know our advice to sort of entrepreneurs is kind of think outside the box. you know Everything does not need to be equity. Equity takes away from your own ownership. So look at other forms of um lending that are available to you. um I think in the US, the market is incredibly developed and advanced in terms of looking at venture debt or looking at debt instruments, et cetera. But in other parts of the world, that is a challenge.

Maheen Rahman: um But I think you can use, ah you know, read don’t reinvent the wheel just to see what’s been done elsewhere and and try and replicate aspects of that in terms of what makes sense for your own structure.

Alejandro Cremades: And then also, as part of the business now, how how have you guys been thinking about scale?

Maheen Rahman: So in terms of scale, um What we want to do is bring bring transactions that can then be replicated and push forward that scale themselves. and So what does that mean?

Maheen Rahman: That means that if we’ve got a company that has come to us, used a guarantee, raised money in the market, the next time around, they may not need the full guarantee framework and they could just do it themselves. um So for us, scale is not necessarily us doing all the business, but it’s kind of enabling banks to recognize risk and price it and do it without the guarantee in the future. Excuse me. And so that way we’ve kind of unlocked a whole new segment of of lending. um One example of how we’ve done that is in solar. So if you look at solar projects, I think five years ago, um and we have a sister company called Grantco, five years ago, I don’t think anyone really did distributed solar financing, which is sort of your rooftop solar. I think two transactions later,

Maheen Rahman: We are now seeing banks willing to lend themselves to such projects, meaning that not only have we done those two projects, but we’ve now enabled a whole other range of projects to come to market without the guarantee. So for us, the catalytic and scaling impact is really around opening up market channels for new sectors and new technology. And that’s so that’s how we’re demonstrating it so far.

Alejandro Cremades: And then now let’s let’s put aside the the whole scale and and and the commercial side of things of any business. right What about going ah a step above that end and also thinking in parallel about doing good for the world? What does that day look like for you all?

Maheen Rahman: Yeah, so everything we do has to carry development impact. And i’ I’ll give you an example of how we enabled this here in Pakistan just last year. So um we had a microfinance institution here. I don’t know if you follow Pakistan, but in 2022, we got hit with some really bad floods. um You know, displaced like 33 million people, destroyed like 5 million homes. It was an exceptionally bad sort of disaster from the climate perspective, right?

Maheen Rahman: Now in terms of rebuilding, that rebuilding takes a long time, but what we did is we created a structure or a bond, right, that was launched in the capital market last last year with a microfinance institution which would then lend or use the funds from that bond that would lend exclusively just to women to read reconstruct sort of flood-damaged homes um rebuild schools, you know, and refurbish businesses that had been damaged. And so provide that livelihood across the board, right? um And we call that the gender bond. So we actually ended up launching through the guarantee the first gender bond out of South Asia, which is quite a sort of unique, um you know, sort of

Maheen Rahman: instrument that we created. um And we were supposed to we did this to demonstrate market impact and to demonstrate how you know funds could be raised through capital markets and bond markets as well. right um But the development impact was so interesting. um It was supposed to impact about 30,000 women. I think to date, and we are just shy of about a year of the bonds launch, we’ve already um impacted about 18,000 women.

Maheen Rahman: in sort of low-income segments. um And about 15% of that bond proceed has gone towards house reconstruction. all of which were damaged in the fund, the remainder has gone to upgrade sort of schooling facilities, et cetera. So, you know, we try and build in development impact at every layer. And and that that, for me personally, was an incredibly sort of rewarding um aspect of the job ah because anyone can put together structured finance, anyone can put together project finance, but how do you layer in development impact, ESG, climate, all these sort of nuances, which are so topical today,

Maheen Rahman: And how do you get mainstream commercial investors to invest in such projects without compromising their returns? And I think that’s what we managed to do with the gender bond. And we look to replicate that now um across various different sectors as well. So it’s finance innovation as well as development finance, which I think has been a really nice marriage throughout the story of Infra Zaman.

Alejandro Cremades: So then talk to us, too, about if you were to go to sleep tonight and you wake up in a world where the vision of infra-summon is fully realized. What does that world look like?

Maheen Rahman: Well, it would look like a place where infrasamine should be out of a job because we’ve done our bit in terms of catalyzing the market and getting the market to recognize risk and lend to sectors which normally wouldn’t get it. um That kind of world would have open access to finance for all sorts of innovation. All sorts of industry um would enable domestic institutions, local banks, local capital markets to um, lend long-term to infrastructure financing, such as bridges, water plants, et cetera, so on and so forth. So really a world where financing is available for very difficult projects, um, and is available in a very sort of open and risk, um, you know, risk aware manner. Uh, and that would be kind of the ideal, right? That’s what we aspire to that kind of access to finance for everyone.

Alejandro Cremades: So, let’s say it now kind of like return like in a time machine. Let’s say I put you into a time machine and we’re going to be able to go back in time. and Let’s say I put you into a time machine that brings you back to, let’s say, 2020 or 2021, where you were thinking about maybe building something of your own.

Alejandro Cremades: And you’re able to have a chat with that younger self, your younger self, Mahin, that Mahin that is a few years earlier. And then let’s say you’re able to give that younger Mahin one piece of advice before launching a business. What would that be and why? Do you know what you know now?

Maheen Rahman: Oh, that’s a good question. um I would just tell the younger Mahin, keep going. Don’t stop. You’re on the right track. Because I think when you’re trying to do something brand new, there’s too much doubt. There’s too much doubt. There’s too much fear. There’s the fear of the unknown. um And I think the first year was quite tough. It was hard to set everything up.

Maheen Rahman: um But yeah, I would just tell her now, don’t stop. Keep going. It is going to work. It is going to come together. And you shouldn’t be afraid. And take that risk. And and I think that’s that’s really what what would have been enough.

Alejandro Cremades: So um ah I think I mentioned this to you earlier. I’m a girl’s dad and day and I have ah three girls that day you know they’re quite entrepreneurial too. They do their limit their lemonade stands and all that stuff. I do believe that the world needs more female founders and they and I know that eventually you know they would then love to get out there and and make a difference you know in in in a similar way, hopefully, you know today to the way that you’re doing it. What kind of advice do you have for all the female founders, all the ladies out there that are thinking about taking ownership of their own destiny?

Maheen Rahman: Um, do it, just do it. Uh, I think you can overthink this to kingdom come. You can talk about the risks and the challenges to kingdom come, but ultimately you have a passion for something. Don’t lose that and just go with it. Um, I really don’t want to say more than that. Um, the reality is that you can bomb. Uh, but the reality is you can also do really well. Uh, and you learn by doing.

Maheen Rahman: But if you don’t ever do anything, you’re never going to learn. So just go for it. I mean, if that’s a passion, just follow it. You’ll find your dream. I mean, I have three daughters myself, so I’m a girl mom. And you know my our focus in life has been just to encourage them on every opportunity they wish to take. So um as a girl dad, and as to all the little girls out there, I would say just do it. There’s nothing really to stop you.

Maheen Rahman: um other than yourself.

Alejandro Cremades: I love it. So, Mahin, for the people that are listening out there that would love to reach out and say hi, what is the best way for them to do so?

Maheen Rahman: um LinkedIn or shoot me an email. I do respond, um but LinkedIn is usually a good way to find me.

Alejandro Cremades: Amazing. Well, Mahin, well, thank you so much for being on the Dealmaker show today. It has been an absolute honor to have you with us.

Maheen Rahman: Thank you. It has been fantastic. Thank you so much.

*****

If you like the show, make sure that you hit that subscribe button. If you can leave a review as well, that would be fantastic. And if you got any value either from this episode or from the show itself, share it with a friend. Perhaps they will also appreciate it. Also, remember, if you need any help, whether it is with your fundraising efforts or with selling your business, you can reach me at

al*******@pa**************.com











“>

al*******@pa**************.com

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More