Hagop Taminian
Hagop Taminian is a former Silicon Badia investment principal focused on early-stage fintech and financial inclusion across Jordan, MENA, and the US, who has since shifted primarily into a software engineering career.
Get their honest, personalized take on your startup.
Sign in to pitch Hagop →At a glance
- Full Name
- Hagop Taminian
- Title
- Software Engineer (current); formerly Investment Principal
- Firm
- EPFL / École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (current); formerly Silicon Badia
- Firm Type
- Venture capital (angel/early-stage investing background)
- Investment Stage
- Early-stage / Seed & Series A
- Sector Focus
- Technology, fintech, internet/software
- Geographic Focus
- Jordan, the Middle East/MENA, and the United States
- Location
- Switzerland
Background
Hagop Taminian graduated from Harvard University in 2008 with an honors degree in economics and mathematics (listed elsewhere as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard). Early in his career he worked at ZAN Partners, a boutique investment manager based in London, before moving into venture capital and impact investing in the Middle East.
In December 2011, Taminian joined Silicon Badia — a venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies across Jordan, the broader Middle East, and the United States — as an Investment Principal. During his roughly 2011–2016 tenure he led and supported deals out of the firm's funds, including its Badia Impact Fund. He also served as a Consultant at Triple Jump (an impact-investment manager) and as Finance Director and Board Member at liwwa, Inc., a Jordan-based fintech SME-lending marketplace that Silicon Badia backed.
More recently, Taminian transitioned into a hands-on engineering career. He works as a Software Engineer specializing in React, Node, and JavaScript, and has been associated with EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, where he contributed to digital-education research projects. His profile spans, in his own framing, "software engineering, consulting, finance, and investment."
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invested at the early stage in technology companies across Jordan, MENA, and the U.S. while a Principal at Silicon Badia.
- Strong conviction in fintech and financial inclusion — particularly using technology and online-marketplace models to close the SME funding gap in the Middle East.
- In his own words on the liwwa investment: *"SME access to finance is one of the biggest economic development challenges and market opportunities in the Middle East. We believe that technology and the online marketplace model will be important in the future of finance in the region…"*
- Comfortable taking board and operating roles in portfolio companies (e.g., Finance Director and Board Member at liwwa), signaling a hands-on, value-add approach rather than purely passive checks.
Notable Investments
- liwwa, Inc. — Jordan-based fintech SME-lending marketplace. Silicon Badia's Badia Impact Fund led liwwa's $2.3M Series A (April 2016), with DASH Ventures and Samih Toukan participating; Taminian led the deal and served as Finance Director and Board Member.
- Silicon Badia portfolio (firm-level, during his tenure) — the firm's portfolio later included unicorns such as Newsela (education) and Electric AI, plus companies like InfluxData and Forever Labs, illustrating the firm's U.S.-and-MENA technology focus.
Unlock the full research
Get how to approach them, recent activity, sources, contact links — plus pitch their AI twin for a candid read on your raise.
One-time. Stays unlocked for you.