Swastik Mohan Bhattarai
- Programme: Masters in Financial Analysis
- Nationality: Nepalese
- Scholarship: Higase Family & Skyy Development Scholarship
Education: Bachelors, Kathmandu University School of Management, Nepal; graduated in 2024
Subject: Finance
Sector(s) of interest: Development Finance, Climate and Energy Infrastructure, Emerging Markets, Impact Investing
My greatest challenge when I applied to business school: Fitting GRE preparation around a hands-on investment role that had me travelling often, which meant studying in fragments wherever I happened to be.
About me: I was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, and I’m on the MFA programme at London Business School as a SKYY Development Scholar.
Before London, I spent two years at One to Watch, a Dutch impact investing firm, working on access to finance for South Asian SMEs. Many were women-led, and most sat outside conventional credit criteria. I covered more than 30 portfolio companies across credit, business development and fundraising, and worked on a renewable energy fund financing the transition to clean power for factories in the region.
Alongside work, I co-founded Himalayan Narratives, a children’s publisher that retells Nepali folklore. I wrote and illustrated the titles, which now sell in more than 10 countries. I also used to work as a bartender, which is where I learned the art of small talk and how to hold 15 orders in my head at once.
Long term, I want to work in development finance and climate infrastructure, and eventually with SMEs back home in Nepal. I trek when I can, most recently to Everest Base Camp.
Three topics I can be approached about: Applying from a frontier market with a non-traditional background; renewable energy; development finance and impact investing.