Helios Investment Partners has bolstered its investment team with the appointment of as managing director of financial services and fintech. He has previously been part of the senior executive team at Facebook.
Elias Yazbeck Yazbeck joins from VEON, a Netherlands-based technology company, where he was group director and head of growth for over three years from 2019 to 2023.
Prior to that, he was interim chief executive officer (CEO) at JazzCash, a Pakistan-based financial services technology company. He held the role for less than a year in 2019.
He joined JazzCash from Facebook, a US-based technology company, where he was head of financial services partnerships and market development for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. He held the role for over two years from 2017 to 2019.
Yazbeck moved into the role from being financial services partnerships for EMEA for less than a year in 2017.
He also previously worked at Mastercard, a US-based financial services technology company. Yazbeck was vice president for less than a year in 2016.
Yazbeck moved into the role from being managing consultant for two years between 2014 and 2016.
Prior to that, he was associate managing consultant for over one year from 2013 to 2014.
His appointment after Helios recently named Guy Wilner as managing director for digital infrastructure, in 2022. This followed the investor’s $50 million investment in IXAfrica, a Kenya-based information technology company which Wilner founded.
This appointment came after Helios named Phil Davis as director of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in 2020 – bringing him in from Carlyle.
Helios’ recent deals include acquiring a majority stake in Maroc Datacenter (MDC), a Morocco-based technology infrastructure company – sealed earlier in 2022.
The investor also signed a deal to exit OVH Energy Marketing (OVHEM) and ASPM, Nigeria-based oil & gas distribution companies – delivered earlier in 2022. Helios exited the companies alongside Vitol through a strategic sell, to Nueoil Energy, a Nigeria-based energy company.
Helios also sealed a deal to partially exit Axxela, formerly Oando Gas and Power (OGP), a Nigeria-based oil & gas distribution company to Japan’s Sojitz Corporation – also sealed earlier in 2022.
