Warwick Economics alumnus listed in Forbes 30 under 30 for Europe

We are delighted that a former student of the Department of Economics has been selected for the Forbes’ Directory 30 Under 30 (Finance) 2021 for Europe. The list, published by Forbes annually, recognises exceptional achievements of 30 individuals under 30 years old, in twenty different industries.

Raees Chowdhury, who graduated with a BSc Economics First Class degree in 2015, has been selected for the Europe’s list 2021 in the Finance category. His Forbes’ profile states:

“Chowdhury is an Investor and founding member at Revolt Ventures in London. Since 2018 he has deployed more than $40m in high-growth real estate tech start-ups. Chowdhury holds several board positions alongside top-tier funds such as Index Ventures and Northzone.”

This achievement follows on from a string of other successes that Raees enjoyed over the years. At the time of graduation from Warwick, Raees was awarded the Examiners’ Prize in Economics and he was also a recipient of the Best Undergraduate Paper Award at the 80^th International Economic Conference in Boston in October 2015. In the same year he also won the Outstanding Participant Award at the Carroll Round (an annual economics conference at Georgetown University) for his paper based on his dissertation.

After graduating from Warwick, Raees studied for an MPhil in Economics at the University of Oxford during which time he founded a MedTech startup offering telephone diagnosis in developing countries. In 2017 Raees joined the Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company as Strategy Consultant working across a range of industries including technology, private equity, consumer goods, automotive and insurance. In 2018 he became one of the founding members of a venture capital and growth equity fund called Revolt Ventures investing in European real estate technology companies.

We asked Raees to comment about his career to date and here is what he said:

What is your current role and what does it involve?

“I am an investor and founding member of the Revolt Ventures team. We invest in early-stage technology companies disrupting the real estate market to support them with capital and advisory as they scale and grow. My daily tasks include sourcing potential investments, conducting due diligence, and supporting our existing investments and founders.

What skills acquired at Warwick Economics do you find most useful now? 

"Warwick Economics has been a fantastic foundation for both my career and personal life. Economics as a subject trained my quantitative skills that I apply day-to-day when considering my investments, for example for analysing financial models, market sizing and commercial analysis. In certain cases, I have applied more complex econometrics models and regressions that I studied at Warwick to my work. Furthermore, the broader problem-solving skillset that Economics pushes you to learn has been valuable to conceptualise thinking around complex scenarios and models. This is very relevant when applied to framing problems and finding solutions for business challenges.

I particularly look back fondly at game theory and industrial organisation courses within microeconomics where I focused my studies during my latter years at Warwick. Learning concepts such as monopolies, oligopolies and how firms behave and “best respond” in a dynamic environment is directly applicable to real life practice. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Robert Akerlof, Jeremy Smith, Abhinay Muthoo and Gianna Boero – they were tutors and researchers at the forefront of their fields, but more importantly have been mentors to me – we keep in close contact.

Outside of Economics, I look back fondly at student societies which were a big part of my life at Warwick having been Co-President of Warwick Entrepreneurs and President of Warwick Trading Society. These broadened my horizon of interests and created meaningful networks and relationships for me – both personal and professional. Not to mention, I met my partner at Warwick (also a Warwick Economics graduate of 2015 working in Private Equity) and maintain a great circle of friends."

How does it feel to be selected as one of 30 by 30 by Forbes?

"Fantastic! It was certainly a pleasant surprise, particularly given the calibre of my peers."

Do you have any immediate plans for the future you can share with us?

"My interest first and foremost is in alternative investments across different asset classes. I like the idea of investing in assets and companies that have a unique narrative, particularly those that are either mispriced or with significant growth potential.“

We thank Raees for this interview and congratulate him on his success.