Be warned about trying to work remotely from the Pret A Manger sandwich shop on Baker Street. A good five-minute walk from the campus of London Business School, it is still close enough to draw a United Nations of graduate management students for coffee and distracting conversation. During one recent visit, an American, noting that he was the son of a war correspondent, prompted a customer at a neighbouring table to join in, declaring he was an Afghan.
It is this melting pot, still more obvious when you reach the LBS campus, that attracted Youssef Hanna. The Egyptian son of a construction industry entrepreneur, Hanna is trying to build his own venture to develop sustainable alternative food production in his home country.
Hanna hopes that Khepra, his early-stage biotech start-up, will one day help to make the food supply chain in the Middle East and Africa more equitable and sustainable. Khepra, which is exploring the use of insects in animal feed, was conceived shortly before Hanna moved from Cairo to begin his masters in management degree at LBS last year. Hanna used his time on the course not only to improve his financial skills but also to develop a business plan and raise all his pre-seed funding with the help of the LBS network.