Prempeh Capital principals and advisors have over 75 years of combined business and financial work experience spanning private equity, investment banking, energy, manufacturing, information communication technology (ICT), management consulting, corporate business development, mergers and acquisitions, financial and operational audit, accounting and control, and general business management. Our goal is to leverage this collective experience and our knowledge of the U.S. and Africa markets to manage private equity funds that invest in the creation and growth of sustainable, locally managed businesses.
With our knowledge of the business environment and cultures, strong network of personal and professional relationships, and world class business and financial skills, we believe we are uniquely qualified to deliver superior returns to our investors while helping to drive economic development in the targeted communities.
John Sarpong is an experienced executive and entrepreneur with a record of establishing, managing and adding value to global and U.S. domestic business operations. He served as President of Southline Industries which he founded in 1996 as an aerospace technical design, certification and project management company serving the air transport and special mission military aircraft industry. Southline Industries has completed projects for Gulfstream Aerospace, Raytheon Corporation (two projects for the Korean Air Force, and the Japan Maritime Safety Agency), and Sikorsky Helicopters (two projects for the Turkish Navy and U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters). Prior to Southline, Mr. Sarpong worked for the Boeing Company from 1985 to 1995, where he distinguished himself as an enterprising and hard working member of the Boeing team, and was subsequently inducted into Boeing’s prestigious EXPO program for executives. He was responsible for developing sales and marketing strategies for successful Boeing sales to over 40 airlines in the Asia/Pacific markets.
Mr. Sarpong also served as the CEO of Africast Global Media, a multi-channel operator of African television channels using IPTV technology. He created the non-profit Africast Foundation which outfits Schoolweb computer labs for rural schools in Africa. He is a former member of the United Nations ICT Task Force and a co-founder of the Africa Digital Diaspora Network. Mr. Sarpong serves on several boards including New Dawn Resorts, a resort development company, and Algenbio, a bioscience company focused on producing ultra pure nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels from algae.
A native of Ghana and U.S. citizen, Mr. Sarpong is a graduate of Yale University with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. He is married to Antoinette Alexander-Sarpong, and they reside in Huntington, Connecticut.
Mr. To was previously responsible for deal sourcing and origination efforts at Riveria Investment Group, a growth equity investment firm. While at Riveria, Mr. To was focused on the sourcing and assessment of technology related opportunities (software as a service, business intelligence, cloud solutions, education and electronic medical record software). Prior to Riveria, he previously worked at Aleutian Capital Partners, a merchant bank focused on advisory services and principal investments in mid market companies. Prior to Aleutian, Mr. To was at Feingold O’Keeffe Capital, an alternative asset management firm specializing in the investment and management of credit, stressed and distressed strategies.
Mr. To received his B.S. in Business Management from Babson College with a dual concentration in Applied Statistics and Computational Finance. He actively follows the technology sector and is involved with various modern and contemporary art organizations.
Mr. Stark has over seventeen years of developing market experience. In the past twelve months, he has assisted a publicly listed company on the Nairobi Stock Exchange with a Board Mandate to raise capital for a regional expansion initiative in Sub Sahara Africa. In addition, Mr. Stark previously served as Managing Director for Third Security LLC with responsibility for all international markets from 2007 to 2008. While at Third Security, he developed the investment strategy and network to launch a new Africa Fund.
From April 2004 until July 2007, Mr. Stark was a Managing Director at Tyco Telecommunications for Europe, Middle East and Africa. During that time, he assisted with developing multiple new submarine cable systems for Africa. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Stark was an Executive Vice President and General Manager for Europe, CIS and South Asia at Pacific Century Cyber Works-Beyond the Network, where he built and managed regional sales and operations teams. From 1996 to 2000, he was a Vice President for Central and Eastern Europe and CIS at Teleglobe, where he built and managed regional sales and operations teams. From 1995 to 1996, Mr. Stark was the Director of Sales and Marketing at Global TeleSystems, and from 1992 to 1996, he lived and worked in Russia while building fiber optic systems, voice services and data networks in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Mr. Stark received his B. S. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and an Executive M. B. A. from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.