In prior years, Business on the Frontlines has partnered with Accelerate Prosperity (AP) to investigate agriculture and ecotourism in Tajikistan and venture impact, ecotourism and green construction in Kyrgyzstan. This year, our team addressed the issue of financial inclusion in Kyrgyzstan to inform a potential fintech business AP could launch in Kyrgyzstan through its venture studio. In doing so, we kept four goals in mind:
By analyzing financial inclusion, we prioritized which challenge the AP venture studio should seek to solve.
We validated and prioritized the top challenges by defining the size of the issue and the market opportunity.
We analyzed the markets in which a solution would need to compete to be successful.
Lastly, we constructed initial visual prototypes for our proposed solutions and a plan for AP to implement further testing of the solutions.
Our desk research, expert interviews and field interviews during our semester’s partnership signaled that Kyrgyz entrepreneurs do not typically investigate their funding options when looking to expand or improve their businesses, and second, that entrepreneurs desire financial mentorship and education. We believe that AP can contribute to financial inclusion through its venture studio by launching a fintech application that would ultimately promote usage of the available financial products and services in the Kyrgyz financial marketplace.
We recommend that AP implement two fintech solutions in its venture studio:
Funding marketplace: We estimate that the market for this solution in Kyrgyzstan alone is $42,000,000. The funding marketplace will serve as a centralized platform on which entrepreneurs may easily compare loans, grants, and other relevant funding programs. This application will connect entrepreneurs to available sources of funding while improving their financial knowledge.
Community-based online learning and mentorship application: We estimate this opportunity has a total addressable market in Kyrgyzstan of $2,400,000. This application intends to connect entrepreneurs with other more experienced and successful entrepreneurs and business experts for financial advice.
These two solutions would improve financial inclusion in Kyrgyzstan by aiding the growth of small and medium-sized businesses, contributing to the country’s overall GDP and economic growth by fostering improved entrepreneur confidence and financial literacy. We share in AP’s aspiration that these initiatives will contribute to sustainable employment and stronger communities.