Leadership Team - Outlierz Ventures

Kenza Lahlou

Kenza Lahlou is the Founder and Managing Partner at Outlierz Ventures. She is a pioneer ecosystem builder and VC investor in Africa with a background in Technology and investment. She lived and worked in Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States with experience spanning software engineering, management consulting and private equity. Kenza started her career as a Computer Science engineer in France, then acquired experience in Private Equity in Africa after a Masters in Business in Singapore. Before starting Outlierz Ventures, she moved to Silicon Valley to join an advisory firm providing market entry services to emerging markets tech companies looking to scale in the US market. Inspired by this experience, she returned to Morocco and co-founded StartupYourLife, one of the pioneer ecosystem builders in the country, as a leading community of tech founders to connect to investors and mentors in the region. Kenza holds a BSc and MSc in Computer Science from INSA in France and a Master of Strategy and International Business from ESSEC Business School in Singapore. She completed a Leadership Executive Program at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2016. Kenza is a Kauffman Fellow Class 25.

Tom Sperry

Tom Sperry is an Operating Partner at Outlierz Ventures. He is a seasoned VC investor and ex-operator with 15+ years of VC investment and fund management experience. Tom is the co-founder and Managing Partner at Rogue Venture Partners, a Portland Oregon-based early-stage venture capital fund investing in undercapitalized areas across the US with six funds under management. Prior to Rogue, he was the CEO of Exit Games Inc, a venture-backed technology company with a focus on the video game industry, and the CEO of the venture-backed company Blade3D headquartered in Shanghai, China. Prior to these roles, Tom held senior management positions with HNC Software and Looking Glass Studios. Tom began his career at Microsoft Corporation, where he was a founding member of the Games Division. Tom is a Fellow of Advanced Leadership Initiative (2020) at Harvard University. He holds International Executive M.B.A. Program Hong Kong(2004) from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Adam Stoll

Adam is a Partner and COO/CFO at Outlierz Ventures, leading the fund operations and back office management. Adam has 8+ years of experience in Venture Capital and fund administration as well as 5+ years as a CFO of high growth companies. He has been a Partner at Rogue Venture Partners since 2015, a Portland Oregon-based Venture Capital firm investing in undercapitalized areas across the US. Prior to Rogue, Adam was CFO of Smart Choice MRI, a growth-focused privately held healthcare services company based in Milwaukee, WI. In that position, Adam oversaw all financial operations and focused on overarching financial strategy and planning. Prior to his role at Smart Choice, Adam was a Global Program Manager for Exit Games, a German-based, venture capital backed technology company. Adam graduated with a BA in International Comparative Policy Studies and Political Science from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He then received an MBA with honors from the Graduate School of Management at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Adam is a fluent Spanish and Catalan speaker and loves to garden, general aviation and be in the mountains whenever possible.

Ali Bensouda

Ali Bensouda is a Founding Partner at Outlierz Ventures and currently holds the role of Venture Partner for Morocco. He is an experienced investment professional with over 15+ years of experience across Private Equity, Venture Capital and as an angel investor and operator in tech startups. Ali spent 4 years at Natixis PE fund in Paris, and structured a fund in Luxembourg before moving back to Morocco and founding Capital Maroc, an investment firm focused on greenfield infrastructure projects. He is an angel investor in tech startups and co-founder and CEO at Omniup, a scale-up company expanding globally. Ali is an Endeavor Entrepreneur. Ali holds a Master’s degree from EM Lyon Business School, MBA at York University (Canada) and a Master in Public Administration from ENA in Paris.

Noha El Ghazali

Noha El-Ghazaly has over fourteen years of experience in the Egyptian financial services industry, and currently holds several roles across a wide spectrum including private equity, venture capital as well as board memberships in some of Egypt's largest corporates. She serves as the Egypt Country Advisor at Mediterrania Capital Partners; a EUR 450Mn AUM Africa-focused private equity firm with HQ in Valetta, Malta. She is also an investment committee member at SANAD ESF II, a KfW-initiated, Luxembourg-based, impact investing fund investing in regional MSME-focused financial institutions and fintech startups. She is also an independent board member at Middle East Glass Manufacturing Company; Africa’s second-largest container glass manufacturer, and Raya Holding; one of Egypt’s largest conglomerates. Noha has led and participated in the successful consummation of over 25 M&A, ECM and debt transactions with c. USD 1.4Bn in transaction value; predominantly in Egypt. She was the Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking at Pharos Holding for Financial Investments and the Executive Director at HC Securities and Investment as well as a Board Member at HC Brokerage.

Diego Arias Garcia

Diego is Senior Associate at Outlierz Ventures, leading the investment process from sourcing to closing as well as portfolio monitoring and platform building. Diego has actively led venture capital investments in Africa for Plug and Play, the renowned Silicon Valley accelerator and early stage investment fund. Prior to being based between Morocco and Egypt, he was part of the Global Healthcare team, working with leading pharma companies and hospitals in the US. Before entering the VC world, he worked as Growth Lead for a VC-backed startup. Diego holds holds a BA with Honors from New York University, having studied in Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and New York. Diego will bring his experience and network to source the best deals, lead the investment process and help support our portfolio founders with access to market and capital.