Webinar | Behind the Scenes with Inclusive Fintech Investors

Nearly 500 million micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are estimated to be operating around the world. Access to credit and other financial services is critical to the growth and sustainability of these businesses, and consequentially to the low-income and vulnerable populations which rely on MSEs for their livelihoods. Yet despite decades of efforts and some notable successes in expanding MSE finance, the credit gap remains an estimated 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars. New technologies are transforming the financial sector, and some could be the key to enabling business models that can overcome traditional barriers to MSE finance: high operating expenses, low lifetime customer value, and credit risk uncertainty.
In this webinar we took a closer look into these new tech-enabled business models, how they function, and discussed their potential to reach underserved MSEs. However, having a new generation of fintechs deploying new business models is just one part of the solution. New innovative fintechs require funding and access to suitable early-stage funding is scarce. Fundraising also proves to be an overly time-consuming process for fintech founders who need to focus on operations/ product development. After discussing some new business models in the MSE finance space, and their promise for financial inclusion, the webinar focused on the investor lens to understand how and when they invest in financial inclusion fintechs, and how they balance between social impact and financial returns. Finally, the webinar highlighted the potential role of fintech incubators and accelerators in supporting early-stage fintechs and providing linkages to the investment community.
More info and webinar materials: cgap.org/event...
Speakers:
Christina Juhasz | Chief Investment Officer, Women's World Banking Asset Management
Christian Ruehmer | Senior Investment Advisor, Bamboo Capital Partners
Ayodele Ogunnoiki | Senior Investment Associate, Goodwell Investments
Wadé Owojori | Director, GSMA Innovation Fund
Maelis Carraro | Managing Partner, Catalyst Fund
Moderator:
Sai Krishna Kumaraswamy | Financial Sector Analyst, CGAP
David Kruijff | MSE Consultant, CGAP
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