About · Seaborne Capital

A letter from Pran Navanandan, Founding Partner

Why I started Seaborne

I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur long before I knew what kind of business I would build.

After working in the Operations department at Lehman Brothers, I moved home and eventually landed on a friend’s couch in Chicago. I took a string of odd jobs, including working for free at a deep-dish pizzeria to learn how a business ran. At the time, I thought I might get into franchising. This was after failing the personality test at Red Lobster, so the path wasn’t exactly a straight line.

A conversation at the pizzeria introduced me to debt collection. I learned what I could, figured out where to start, and in 2008 put my own savings into launching Halsted Financial Services.

We built the business without institutional backing, by showing up and figuring it out. Over time, that meant building a team across multiple countries and developing our own software to support the operation.

That experience shapes how I invest. I know what it feels like to put your savings into an idea that might fail, to lie awake over the tough decisions, and to worry about making payroll. When a founder calls me in a difficult moment, I remember those days. I can help them work through the tough decisions because I’ve been there.

I started Seaborne to bring that operating experience to the companies we back, and built a team with similar experience and a shared ethos: be available when decisions get hard, help with the work, and give a business the time it needs to grow.

Pran

Our approach

How we invest

Back the person

We get to know founders by seeing how they work: how deeply they understand their customers, what they do with limited resources, how they solve problems, and how they respond to setbacks. We value resourcefulness, follow-through, and the honesty to say when something isn’t working. Those qualities tell us more than credentials, a polished pitch, or the names of other investors.

Build for the long term

Building a durable business takes time, and progress is rarely straightforward. We invest our own capital, giving us the flexibility to stay involved through setbacks, changes in direction, and growth. We’re prepared to give a good business the time it needs to develop.

How we help

We work alongside founders as they build, grow, and pursue what comes next. We bring capital, operating experience, and a team that can get involved in everything from building software and strengthening sales to supporting international expansion. What that looks like depends on the business and the people building it.

Motorento

Motorento needed to grow its fleet as quickly as demand was growing. We bought 550 motorcycles before the term sheet was completed and put our engineers to work building a CRM to support the expanding operation. The opportunity was there. The systems and paperwork had to catch up.

Edge Tutor

We bought out early shareholders to simplify Edge Tutor’s ownership structure, giving the company a simpler foundation for its next stage of growth.

Skyway

We helped Skyway expand internationally and navigate economic uncertainty, working alongside the team as it grew into new markets and adapted to changing conditions.

Look beyond the obvious

Good businesses don’t always fit the usual venture model. Some need fleets, physical infrastructure, or years of operational work to realize their potential. We take the time to understand the customer demand, the economics, and what it will take to grow. That’s where we can find opportunities a more conventional approach might overlook.

Focus

Where we see opportunity

The Philippines is our main focus. Years of operating there have given us a firsthand view of the talent, ambition, and opportunity in the market. We see significant unmet demand for businesses that make everyday services more reliable, improve people’s lives, and help other companies grow. We occasionally invest elsewhere when there’s a strong fit between the founder, the business, and the support we can provide.

Our team