Events

Sep
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar 2021-09-29 20:00:00 2021-09-29 20:00:00 Sneak Preview of the World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery by invitation only   The World Bank Group is inviting members of the SME Finance Forum to an exclusive “sneak preview” of their upcoming 2022 World Development Report (WDR). It aims to be a practical guide—grounded in research and real world experience—for low-and-middle-income countries to develop strategies to strengthen financial markets for a more equitable recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis. Through analysis, frameworks, and case studies, the report assesses the financial and economic impacts of COVID-19 on households, businesses, banks, and governments, and will provide recommendations for addressing financial fragilities as nations rebuild.   On September 30th 8:00 am EDT, WDR Director Leora Klapper and Lead Author Martin Holtmann will make a special advance presentation of the report, with findings about the impact of COVID-19 on economies, next steps for governments and lenders to deal with the anticipated rise in debt defaults, debt restructuring, and insolvency, and there will be a special focus on how technology and data, along with tech-enabled product design and delivery, can foster continued access to finance for households and businesses as economies recover.   What you will learn The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on households and firms, and the interlinkages with pre-existing debt loads and economic fragilities.  Present and anticipated state of debt distress and the prospects for business solvency Priorities for governments and lenders to manage rising levels of non-performing loans as borrowers supports are wound down Reform priorities to improve insolvency frameworks and create a orderly process for restructuring  The impacts of the crisis on credit risk and the ability of lenders to provide adequate financing to businesses and households in the context of high economic uncertainty  How innovations in the use of technology and data, and in tech-enabled product design and delivery, can increase visibility into a borrower’s future ability to repay, and improve recourse in the event of nonpayment Regulatory and supervisory frameworks for technology-enabled financial innovation About the World Development Report (WDR) The WDR is a flagship publication of the World Bank Group. Previous WDRs have examined how technology is changing the nature of work, trade and development in the age of global value chains, and how the changing data landscape is creatin opportunities as well as challenges.  This year the WDR is focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial markets, and how participants and policy makers can build back better for a resilient and equitable recovery.  The report will examine the financial impact of the pandemic on household, firms, and governments, as well as the policy responses and consequent fiscal implications for government budgets and broader sovereign and private credit markets. As the economic disruptions to firms and households due to the pandemic echo in non-performing loans and defaults, proactive approaches to managing credit market disruptions will be important to recover. The report will present resolution strategies for lenders and debt restructuring approaches for households and firms, including in-court and out-of-court options to reduce debt burdens and pave the way for recovery. Of particular interest to SMEFF members, the report will examine how lenders can respond to the increased risk and reduced visibility of the pandemic lending environment, and how policy makers can foster innovations in lending alongside well-designed government support programs.    Speakers Leora Klapper is the WDR2022 Director and a Lead Economist in the Finance and Private Sector Research Team of the Development Research Group at the World Bank. Her publications focus on corporate and household finance, banking, entrepreneurship, and risk management. Her current research studies the impact of digital financial services, especially for women. She is a founder of the Global Findex database, which measures how adults around the world save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Previously, she worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Salomon Smith Barney. She holds a Ph.D. in Financial Economics from New York University Stern School of Business.       Martin Holtmann is the WDR2022 Lead Author and Global Sector Manager for Financial Inclusion, MSME Finance, and Digital Finance at IFC. Martin started in banking with Deutsche Bank in Buenos Aires. As Project Manager and Managing Director, he spent twelve years with IPC, an access to finance and bank management consulting firm. From 1995 until 2001 he was the resident Manager of the EBRD Russia Small Business Fund. Prior to joining IFC, Martin was Lead Financial Specialist at CGAP, where he managed the Technology Team and also headed the “Retail Advisory Service”. As a faculty member of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program since 1996, Martin has helped to train more than 4000 banking executives and microfinance professionals. Martin is a graduate of the L.B. Pearson UWC in Victoria, B.C., Canada, and holds Master’s degrees from Trier University (Business Economics) and Harvard University (Public Administration).       Members access recording on Member Portal>   A summary of the event will be posted soon.   By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.   For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org.   Online SME FINANCE FORUM ronyg@panapps.co America/New_York public
Sep
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar 2021-09-21 20:00:00 2021-09-21 20:00:00 SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - Fourth Session - Fintechs The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors.  The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.  How does the Marketplace operate? To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.     Fourth Marketplace Session This fourth marketplace session, scheduled on Wednesday, September 22nd from 8 am - 9:00 EDT, will feature a series of fintechs who will present their products/services. Following the presentations, participants will have the opportunities to reach out directly to the presenting fintech to make inquiries or explore partnership opportunities based on their interests.    Meet the Fintech Presenters   Bloom Impact Carol Caruso is an innovative leader with 20 years global business development, inclusive finance and digital technology experience. Currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Bloom Impact, a social impact, Fintech startup, Carol has extensive experience and passion in driving social impact, innovation and inclusive finance through the use of innovative technology such as mobile apps/payments, online platforms, biometrics, remittances and agent networks. She has worked on a wide variety of digital inclusive finance initiatives and collaborated with partners such as leading Telcos (Safaricom, Airtel, MTN, Tigo), Fintech vendors, payment companies (Visa, Mastercard), Central Banks, Social Impact investors and private companies. Carol has held prior positions as SVP Digital Channels & Tech at Accion International, Managing Director of Triple Jump Advisory Services – a Dutch responsible investment manager, Financial Inclusion Expert at Kiva and EMEA Director at Broadvision. Carol brings a unique combination of experience from having worked in Europe, US, Africa, Asia, and LATAM within both private and public sectors. She is a board member and advisor for several social impact startups in Africa and the US, and a mentor and judge for the UC Berkeley BigIdeas startup competition and MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge and $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. During the 2017-18 academic year, Caruso joined Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government as a joint Visiting Social Innovator (VSI) at the Social Innovation and Change Initiative and Visiting Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership. She continues to serve as a Beck VSI at SICI.     Bnkability Emem Usanga is the CEO and Founder of Bnkability, a technology company that ensures African trade transactions are creditworthy and investment ready unlocking capital for SMEs whilst derisking dealflow for financial institutions. Through this solution, Bnkability is aiming to contribute to moving the needle on Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic development. With a business development career spanning over 15 years in advertising, she has worked for startups as well as corporates including Glow, Haymarket Publishing and WPP’s 24/7 Real Media. In her spare time, Emem has been London Local Lead for the Interaction Design Foundation, Adas List Strategy Committee member and member of the UK Africa Fintech Investment Group (a DFID & DiT partnership). She is Co-Lead of TLA Africa.     CashDirector Patrycja Strzelecka is the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at CashDirector. CashDirector’s Digital CFO solution for SMEs helps banks provide financial management services to small businesses at an affordable price. The platform allows SMEs to save time through automated daily finance management, understand their cash-flow needs in real-time, and interact online with their bank to balance short-term deficits or get funding. At the same time, through integration with their online banking platform, banks are able to obtain valuable information crucial for better risk assessment and to offer personalized on-demand products in an automated and efficient way. Patrycja's expertise include Fintech, finance and accounting management, outsourcing. Prior to CashDirector she was Managing Director at TMF Group and Head of Marketing at Raiffeisen Bank in Poland. Alumni of Barclays TechStars PwC Raise and DBS SuperCharger Accelerators Patrycja understand the dynamics of scaling companies as well as partnering with banks. She graduated from the International Silesian Business School in Poland and holds an MBA from Université du Québec à Montréal     Dymamic Resources (CashNow) Moazzam Ahmed is a co-founder at Dynamic Resources – a Fintech startup focused on addressing SMEs cashflow challenges.  This is the first Supply Chain Finance portal operating in Pakistan, under the trademark CashNow™ which is focused on the B2B segment of the economy.  The company became operational in March 2021 and has processed over PKR 200mn in transactions.  This company is focused on digitizing the SME eco-system, to improve transparency and efficiency.  Before embarking on this project, Moazzam was as a Senior Country Officer in Pakistan for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group for over 14 years. Prior to IFC, Moazzam was a consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst and Young for over 10 years.       Vector ML Analytics Sadeq Safarini is the CEO and founder of Vector ML Analytics, the founder of Global Structured Finance ( and former senior director of Dealnet Capital, a publicly traded Canadian firm with over 500 employees He was responsible for building the treasury and securitization function in addition to being  involved in the design and implementation of the business plan. His expertise in treasury, securitization, and credit risk helped the company grow its book from 50 M to 200 M by the end of 2018. Sadeq has extensive financial experience in major banks, trusts, public companies, fintech, and credit rating agencies He has held multiple consulting positions in both London and Toronto, where he was able to turn complex financial data into simple value added information to examine business plans and strategically steer businesses in the right direction. His areas of expertise include machine learning, data science, automation, credit rating, structured finance, securitization, Asset Backed Securities ( Mortgage Backed Securities ( Asset Liability Management ( liquidity planning forecasting, debt capital markets, risk management, stress testing, financial modeling, business valuation, investor reporting, capital planning analysis, compliance, and cross functional leadership.     Relive the session here>   For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org   By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.   **   Core Features & Capabilities of the SME Finance Marketplace Access the Marketplace Platform: As representatives from member institutions, you can access the Marketplace via your personal LinkedIn or Google accounts or simply by signing up via your work email address here> smeff-marketplace.globallinker.com/ Onboarding: Once the personal account is created, you will be guided through an onboarding process to set up the company profile. Overview: Company Name, selecting head office from Google Maps, selecting member type, uploading logo.  Company Profile: to have a rich company profile, it’s recommended that you provide a brief description about the company. It’d be helpful to indicate what your company offers or what it’s looking for from potential partner institutions. It’s advisable to add digital addresses like website, company’s LinkedIn profile or FB business page links if available.  Marketplace Offerings/Listings: Creating service listings across 8 categories, adding a brochure, video links, cover image etc., if available.  Individual User Profile: as representatives of your institution, you shall have your personal profiles on the marketplace platform to enhance networking opportunities. It’s important to add  your designation, job role/designation, time zone to schedule meetings, digital addresses like personal LinkedIn profile, profile photo etc. *Company profile set up is a one-time exercise and any colleague joining from the same company thereafter can simply select the company name and all the details will be prepopulated.  Marketplace: All listings on the marketplace are classified under 8 categories. You can choose to view all listings, or a particular category based on your interests/needs. You could send enquiries directly to companies that you’re interested in or schedule meetings with the key contacts/representatives of the company Enquiries: Interested members can send enquiries directly to the company by clicking on the "Send Enquiry" button on the listing and the enquiry is sent via direct message and an email notification.  Member Directory: You can browse through the member directory to learn about their work or products/services they offer. You can filter members by their types, review offerings & requirements, visit company profiles, user profiles or listings pages to know more about the company.  Schedule meetings: You can send request for meetings on the platform by selecting the participants you wish to invite. You can upload attachments if helpful.  Messages: Members can send instant messages to other members on the platform to network or explore opportunities. If a specific member is online, their profiles will be carrying a green "Online" tag.  Invite Colleagues: you could invite your colleagues to create their profiles so to expand your company’s presence on the marketplace.  While creating their profiles, they have to simply select the company they belong to and all the details set up by you will be pre-filled. If you have any questions or to learn more, read the User Manual in this link.   Feel free to let us know should you have any questions or need any assistance to smefinanceforum@ifc.org.   Online SME FINANCE FORUM ronyg@panapps.co America/New_York public
Sep
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar 2021-08-31 20:00:00 2021-08-31 20:00:00 Open Webinar: Making Digital Financial Services Work for Women – A Focus on Digital Adoption In 2019, Women’s World Banking conducted research  in India and Indonesia on an emerging business model known as social commerce entrepreneurship with enterprises blending social media, e-commerce, payments and delivery platforms. One of the findings of the study is that, despite adopting digital platforms, women are not yet fully utilizing them. “Digital adoption means achieving a state in which users gain the ability to use digital tools as they are intended and to the fullest extent.”     The topic of digital adoption is especially relevant as the world moves towards a digital future with the economy driven by digital commerce and enabled by digital finance. We aim to raise awareness on what prevents the adoption of DFS; and, what FSPs can do to drive adoption, especially as they actively leverage digital finance for women’s financial inclusion. On September 1st, 2021 at 8:00 AM EDT, Women’s World Banking (WWB) and its project partners, will share learnings from their work in wage digitization and digital account activation highlighting digital adoption insights from Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc, Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Bangladesh and DANA Indonesia, as well as from WWB’s research in a joint effort with the ILO, published in March 2021.     What you will learn • What trends are we seeing in the ecosystem that hinder or facilitate digital adoption • What the challenges and barriers are both Financial Service Providers (FSPs) and their women customers face with digital adoption  • What the solution components in digital financial services (DFS) are that drive adoption and usage among women customers • What role MSMEs can play in supporting adoption of digital financial services, e.g., digital payments   Host Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum   Speakers Manu Rajan is the Division CEO at Wing Businesses that includes Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc. He brings over two decades of hands-on learning across an interestingly diverse blend of advertising, analytics, telecom, and consumer finance & fintech. He has been passionately consolidating all that learning to drive financial inclusion in developing markets across geographies including Africa, Asia & the Pacific. He has been a techno-marketer over 22 years and had worked with companies in the USA, Asia, Pacific and Africa that blended technology and finance that are relevant to the poor. Manu has an MBA in Marketing from the Cochin University of Science and Technology.   Md. Abedur Rahman Sikder is the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Bangladesh. He has been with DBBL for almost 5 years now. He had been Chief Retail Banking Officer before his new assignment as COO this January 2021. Prior to joining DBBL, he was EVP at BRAC Bank in Bangladesh and prior to that, CEO at BRAC Lanka Finance in Sri Lanka. Sikder has a Master’s Degree in Governance Studies from the University of Dhaka and has two Post Graduate Diplomas, one in International Relations and the second in Business Management, Marketing and Related Support Services.   Agustina Samara is the Chief People and Corporate Strategy Officer at DANA in Indonesia. She has been with DANA since July 2018. Tina has 24 years of working experience in multinational and local companies playing various roles as banker, executive of a conglomerate company, owner of a consultant firm and executive of a start-up. At DANA, her passion is to find great talents to develop digital money and build a cashless society for Indonesia. She earned an Industrial Engineering degree from the Universitas Trisakti and deepened her leadership skills through INSEAD Leadership Executive Program. She is a certified international trainer and coach.   Elwyn Panggabean is the Director for Advisory Services at Women’s World Banking. With 14 years of experience working in financial industry and development sector, Elwyn leads the advisory projects, research and business development in Southeast Asia. He was a senior banker at one of the largest state-owned Banks in Indonesia. Prior to joining Women’s World Banking, Elwyn was a Manager at a consulting firm that focuses in financial inclusions, to assist the development of digital financial and socio-economic inclusion in Indonesia. His areas of expertise and interest include research, strategy, business development, and evidence-based policy analysis. Elwyn holds an MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.   Nithyasri Sharma is a Manager for Strategy at Women’s World Banking. She is a seasoned strategy professional focused on inclusive finance, fintech strategy, and digital innovation. She currently leads the strategy function at Women’s World Banking where she is responsible for driving the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan to reach 100 million women, as well as country strategies in each of the organization’s key priority markets. She also has expertise in human-centered research and product design for inclusive finance institutions from banks to fintechs, across digital credit, savings, and mobile payments. Nithyasri received her BA in Economics and English Literature from Dartmouth College, her MBA from the Yale School of Management, and her MA in International and Development Economics from Yale University.         About Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc is the bank for every Cambodian. Since introducing instant, secure, and convenient fund transfers in August 2008, Wing Bank has revolutionized the way Cambodians access mobile financial services. Wing Bank serves the entire Cambodian population through our innovative Wing Money App, nearly 10,000 Wing Cash Xpress agents, over 55,000 participating merchants, and partnerships with industry giants. Wing Bank provides an array of advanced financial products (loans, deposits, micro savings, credit referral services, money transfers, utility and insurance payments, phone top-ups) both for individual and corporate customers. In addition, Wing offers retail payments via “WingPay”, and has the “WingMall” e-commerce platform. Small and large companies alike are also using Wing’s payroll and disbursement services. Wing Bank is committed to improving financial inclusion for the unbanked and the under-banked, allowing every Cambodian to enjoy convenience and security when it comes to financial services.   Dutch-Bangla Bank is Bangladesh's first joint venture bank between local shareholders spearheaded by M Sahabuddin Ahmed (founder chairperson) and the Dutch company FMO. From the onset, the focus of the bank has been financing high-growth manufacturing industries that exports Bangladeshi products worldwide. The bank has also won numerous international awards because of its unique approach as a socially conscious bank. Dutch Bangla Bank was the first bank in Bangladesh to be fully automated. The Electronic-Banking Division established in 2002 undertook rapid automation and bring modern banking services into this field. It now provides unrivaled banking technology offerings to all its customers.   DANA is a technology company that supports one of the pillars of a digital economy in Indonesia. As a Fintech, it aims to bring inclusive financial services to empower people for a better way of life by enabling the society to transact seamlessly. It offers a highly secured and scalable payment service platform that connects everyone based on world-class technology. DANA’s goal is to provide Indonesia with a trustworthy and convenient mobile payment system that caters to the needs of their customers, and that is a sustainable and profitable business for their stakeholders. They want to build Indonesia as a cashless society.   Women’s World Banking designs and invests in the financial solutions, institutions and policy environments in emerging markets to create greater economic stability and prosperity for women, their families, and their communities. With a global reach of 56 partners in 31 countries serving more than 70 million women clients, Women’s World Banking drives impact through its scalable, market-driven solutions; gender-lens private equity fund; and leadership and diversity programs.   Relive the session here>     For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org   By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.   Online SME FINANCE FORUM ronyg@panapps.co America/New_York public
Ago
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar 2021-08-03 20:00:00 2021-08-03 20:00:00 SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - Third Session - Fintechs The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors.  The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.  How does the Marketplace operate? To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.     Third Marketplace Session This third marketplace session, scheduled on Wednesday, August 4th from 8 am - 9:00 EDT, will feature a series of fintechs who will present their products/services. Following the presentations, participants will have the opportunities to reach out directly to the presenting fintech to make inquiries or explore partnership opportunities based on their interests.    Featured Fintechs   Arctic Intelligence Rosie Davitt is the Director NA/EMEA at Arctic Intelligence. Rosie has over 10 years’ experience selling data and technology into businesses to improve the way they manage regulatory compliance. Starting her career at WorldCheck and continuing into Thomson Reuters where she worked as a Screening specialist, working with both Financial and corporate clients to implement appropriate, scalable solutions to comply with their regulatory obligations and ensure best practice in line with their specific risk based approach.  AML Benchmarking Report. This report is a combination of qualitative and quantitative data from customers and non-customers.       Dakko Maria Messina is the CEO & CoFounder of Dakko, a one-stop platform dedicated to improving access to Health & Financial Wellbeing services for employees and their families in Emerging Markets. Throughout her career, Maria has demonstrated an outstanding level of business achievement and has shown a strong interest in Fintech, Digital Technologies, Innovation, Financial Inclusion, ESG and Sustainability. Previously, Maria was a Business Developer and marketing associate at Spiber Inc., a Japanese biotechnology startup utilizing cutting-edge synthetic biology, polymer, and material science for the development of sustainable materials. Prior to this, Maria was a Business Strategy Consultant at ICM Advisors, an independent and specialized firm in Europe that supports Companies and Investors in maximizing the strategic and financial value of their technology, brand and investments portfolio. Maria holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and ICT Management and Bachelor’s degree in ICT Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin.   FintechOS Catalin Dediu is the VP of Product Management of FintechOS. Catalin Dediu is the VP, Product Management at FintechOS. Previous to FintechOS, Catalin has led transformation projects in Financial Services working for consultancies like The Boston Consulting Group and Roland Berger, across Europe.        Kountable Chris Hale is Founder and CEO of Kountable, Inc., a revolutionary startup and Market Maker that is building the world's most inclusive supply chains. Its cloud-based, global trade platform delivers unprecedented transparency in trade by connecting the biggest sellers on the globe with the most qualified buyers in emerging economies. Hale has over a decade of demonstrated success in the financial services sector. He has a deep understanding of capital markets and how performance, audit and governance work. This expertise has been the foundation of creating an environment where data transparency and auditability can be brought to market. While developing and championing the vision that became Kountable , Hale built one of the fastest growing RIAs in the US. As the COO of Perigon Wealth Management, a RIA serving approximately 100 families and managing over $1 billion USD in assets, Hale doubled its headcount and grew its assets under management nearly six-fold and lead Perigon to be among the top 5 fastest growing RIAs in the country in 2015. Hale has also consulted some of the top Silicon Valley technology  startups, targeting the financial services sector in the areas of asset management and reporting, CRM, programmatic trading and digital advisory services. Hale earned his Bachelor's degree in Biology and English from Williams College .   Lucy  Debbie Watkins is the CEO and co-founder of Lucy. She has 20+ years of experience in technology for finance, mobile-enabled products and services, and business and strategy consulting. working in over 35 countries. She has led customer-centric market research and product development engagements; supported clients in technology platform needs assessment and implementation; managed multi-million-dollar projects in Asia and Africa; and built multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams in a number of countries. She has lived in Asia since 2000, and is based in Singapore where she is the CEO and co-founder of Lucy. Lucy is a neobank built to help women who are overlooked, underestimated, and underbanked become unstoppable by levelling the financial playing field. Lucy aims to empower women from all walks of life, by equipping them with the financial services, growth tools and peer support that they need to grow and thrive. Video Presentation => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDTE97d68y4   nanopay Corporation Kevin Wallace is the Director of Partnerships at nanopay, a company that offers innovative payment and treasury solutions that empower businesses and banks to scale. Kevin has 10+ years of FinTech experience, specializing in strategic partnerships and business development, with a special interest in payment innovation, embedded business banking technology, and increasing accessibility to financial services. Prior to joining nanopay, Kevin lead business development at multiple high-growth financial tech companies in Canada and the US, delivering domestic, xborder, and POS payment solutions to SMBs across a wide range of industries. While continuing to also leverage his early experience in the blockchain space, he is now focused on bringing nanopay's vision of frictionless(R) payments to everyone.     For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org   By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.   **   Core Features & Capabilities of the SME Finance Marketplace Access the Marketplace Platform: As representatives from member institutions, you can access the Marketplace via your personal LinkedIn or Google accounts or simply by signing up via your work email address here> smeff-marketplace.globallinker.com/ Onboarding: Once the personal account is created, you will be guided through an onboarding process to set up the company profile. Overview: Company Name, selecting head office from Google Maps, selecting member type, uploading logo.  Company Profile: to have a rich company profile, it’s recommended that you provide a brief description about the company. It’d be helpful to indicate what your company offers or what it’s looking for from potential partner institutions. It’s advisable to add digital addresses like website, company’s LinkedIn profile or FB business page links if available.  Marketplace Offerings/Listings: Creating service listings across 8 categories, adding a brochure, video links, cover image etc., if available.  Individual User Profile: as representatives of your institution, you shall have your personal profiles on the marketplace platform to enhance networking opportunities. It’s important to add  your designation, job role/designation, time zone to schedule meetings, digital addresses like personal LinkedIn profile, profile photo etc. *Company profile set up is a one-time exercise and any colleague joining from the same company thereafter can simply select the company name and all the details will be prepopulated.  Marketplace: All listings on the marketplace are classified under 8 categories. You can choose to view all listings, or a particular category based on your interests/needs. You could send enquiries directly to companies that you’re interested in or schedule meetings with the key contacts/representatives of the company Enquiries: Interested members can send enquiries directly to the company by clicking on the "Send Enquiry" button on the listing and the enquiry is sent via direct message and an email notification.  Member Directory: You can browse through the member directory to learn about their work or products/services they offer. You can filter members by their types, review offerings & requirements, visit company profiles, user profiles or listings pages to know more about the company.  Schedule meetings: You can send request for meetings on the platform by selecting the participants you wish to invite. You can upload attachments if helpful.  Messages: Members can send instant messages to other members on the platform to network or explore opportunities. If a specific member is online, their profiles will be carrying a green "Online" tag.  Invite Colleagues: you could invite your colleagues to create their profiles so to expand your company’s presence on the marketplace.  While creating their profiles, they have to simply select the company they belong to and all the details set up by you will be pre-filled. If you have any questions or to learn more, read the User Manual in this link.   Feel free to let us know should you have any questions or need any assistance to smefinanceforum@ifc.org.   Online SME FINANCE FORUM ronyg@panapps.co America/New_York public
Jul
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar 2021-07-07 20:00:00 2021-07-07 20:00:00 SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - Second Session - Fintechs The “SME Finance Virtual Marketplace” is an online match-making platform that promotes partnership and collaboration between members of the SME Finance Forum, especially financial institutions, fintech companies and development finance institutions/ investors.  The virtual Marketplace is powered by GlobalLinker, an AI powered ‘Digital Ecosystem’ offering SMEs a range of services to build digital presence including e-commerce.  How does the Marketplace operate? To participate in the marketplace session, each member of the SME Finance Forum must have 1) an institutional profile (company profile) and personal profiles (individuals representing the companies) set up on the marketplace. Institutional profile shall also include products/services being offered by the members. With institutional profile and personal profile, representatives of member institutions will be able to explore different offerings by other members such as investment products, advisory services, technology solutions...etc. The virtual platform will enable members to reach out to one another to discuss potential collaboration and partnership at their own convenience.     New Date! Second Marketplace Session This second marketplace session, scheduled on Thursday, July 8th from 8 am – 9.30 am EST, will feature a series of fintechs who will present their products/services. Following the presentations, participants will have the opportunities to reach out directly to the presenting fintech to make inquiries or explore partnership opportunities based on their interests.    Featured FIntechs   Apoidea Hardy Liu is a co-founder of Apoidea. He is also a Managing Partner and Responsible Officer of Altive. Prior to his role in Apoidea and Altive, Hardy was the Investment Analyst responsible for China Equity at Macquarie Asset Management. Hardy was the primary lead on Internet, Industrial and Auto, and secondary lead on Telecom, Utility. As the top alpha generating analyst in the team, Hardy was promoted to co-manage with discretion the China portfolio. Hardy was also part of the investment committee, which made investment decisions and portfolio adjustment decisions, including, without limitation, those relating to China and ASEAN portfolio. Hardy was also an investment analyst from the hedge fund LST Capital Partners Limited and a trader at ICBC (Asia). Hardy obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Information Systems from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and attended an exchange program in the University of Virginia.   BizCapital Francisco Ferreira is the Founder and CEO of BizCapital, a small business digital bank disrupting the Brazilian market. BizCapital helps micro and small entrepreneurs with resources to thrive. The company has raised US$ 22.6mn in equity and US$ 50mn through loan funding vehicles, backed by local and international investors like monashees, Chromo Ventures, Quona Capital, DEG, and OikoCredit.. Before founding Biz, Francisco co-founded Affero Lab, Brazil's leading edTech platform, acquired by german media group Bertelsmann in 2015. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering and a M.Sc. Degree in Software Engineering.     Fern Software Eamon Scullin is the CEO & Founder of Fern Software. Before setting up Fern Software, Eamon's previous employers included PwC, General Electric, Fujitsu and ESCO - all of whom provided useful experience in running an international network of offices, financial control, recruitment and business development. Eamon has spoken at many international conferences on how best technology can serve the objective of poverty alleviation and economic development through the promotion of social enterprise. Fern Software is now internationally recognised as a key provider of the highest quality banking solutions at a reasonable cost to MFIs, Credit Unions, Development Banks, Low Income Social Housing Funds, National Banks, National Credit Associations, Social Enterprise Funding Foundations, Village and Rural Banks.     Fidor Solutions, Sopra Banking Software Company Matthew Nicholls is the Head of Sales at Fidor Solutions, Sopra Banking Software Company. Matthew has empowered several existing financial, retail, and telecom institutions, and start-up to bring Digital Banking technology to the heart of their businesses; helping them to shape customer centric value propositions.  Having been in the Digital Banking industry for several years, Matthew has worked for industry leading banking technology providers where he learned to dominate business challenges and approach several markets spanned across different geographical environments.     Rong360 Jianpu Technology Inc.  Daqing (David) Ye is the Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rong360 Jianpu Technology Inc. David Ye is an entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in Internet and Financial Technology in China, Southeast Asia, and the United States. He is the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Rong360 Jianpu Technology Inc. (NYSE: JT), a leading independent open platform for discovery and recommendation of financial products in China and Southeast Asia. Before founding Rong360 in 2011, he had leadership roles with PayPal, American Express, Capital One Financial Corporation, and America Online in the United States and China. Mr. Ye was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year" by The Founder in 2015. He sits on the Consumer's Financial Rights Protection and Education Committee under the National Internet Finance Association of China.  He sits on the advisory board of Stanford University Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a mentor of Tsinghua PBCSF Global Entrepreneur Leadership Program.  Mr. Ye received a B.S. in engineering from Hunan University, a M.S. in finance from the George Washington University, and an EMBA at the People's Bank of China School of Finance, Tsinghua University.   Waynbo by PaperSoft Daniel Filipe Ribeiro Alves is the CEO at, Papersoft. For more than a decade, Daniel Alves, CEO of Papersoft, provides the vision that has propelled the company to its continuing goal: developing a multi-service platform for the Agents Channel - the backbone of the digital identity initiatives financial services delivery in the emerging markets. Daniel and his team lead projects worldwide, including Nigeria, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. He has been a leader in the drive for financial inclusion in Africa, is frequently quoted and widely sought after as a speaker at industry gatherings. Daniel makes his home in Lisbon.     Fintech Group  Samuel Ouko is the Business Development Manager at Fintech Group. Samuel has experience within the Banking Solutions Group of Fintech Group in delivering strategic Consultancy for clients in MFIs, Banking & Finance Industry across Africa. Fintech Group has Provided technology solutions to 200+ financial institutions in 16 African countries. The Fintech Group systems have facilitated seamless integration and inter-operability to promote payment systems, digitalization, e-commerce and open banking. Samuel has engaged clients in value proposition for projects ranging from Digital Innovation, Business Intelligence & Analytics, Banking Systems, Regulatory Reporting, and Data Reconciliation to help clients explore unseen innovative and process automation opportunities.  He is a Co-founder and former chairperson of the local chapter of the International Software Testing Qualification Board ISTQB, Regional Chair for the Foundation for International Blockchain and Real Estate Expertise FIBREE and a Speaker/Panelist on digitization trends with a focus on emerging technologies adoption including Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence for Financial Services Industry. He holds a technology degree and was in the pioneer Masters of Business Administration class of Strathmore University in Kenya.     A summary of the session and the recording will be posted soon.   For more information, please contact us at smefinanceforum@ifc.org   By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice. **   Core Features & Capabilities of the SME Finance Marketplace Access the Marketplace Platform: As representatives from member institutions, you can access the Marketplace via your personal LinkedIn or Google accounts or simply by signing up via your work email address here> smeff-marketplace.globallinker.com/ Onboarding: Once the personal account is created, you will be guided through an onboarding process to set up the company profile. Overview: Company Name, selecting head office from Google Maps, selecting member type, uploading logo.  Company Profile: to have a rich company profile, it’s recommended that you provide a brief description about the company. It’d be helpful to indicate what your company offers or what it’s looking for from potential partner institutions. It’s advisable to add digital addresses like website, company’s LinkedIn profile or FB business page links if available.  Marketplace Offerings/Listings: Creating service listings across 8 categories, adding a brochure, video links, cover image etc., if available.  Individual User Profile: as representatives of your institution, you shall have your personal profiles on the marketplace platform to enhance networking opportunities. It’s important to add  your designation, job role/designation, time zone to schedule meetings, digital addresses like personal LinkedIn profile, profile photo etc. *Company profile set up is a one-time exercise and any colleague joining from the same company thereafter can simply select the company name and all the details will be prepopulated.  Marketplace: All listings on the marketplace are classified under 8 categories. You can choose to view all listings, or a particular category based on your interests/needs. You could send enquiries directly to companies that you’re interested in or schedule meetings with the key contacts/representatives of the company Enquiries: Interested members can send enquiries directly to the company by clicking on the "Send Enquiry" button on the listing and the enquiry is sent via direct message and an email notification.  Member Directory: You can browse through the member directory to learn about their work or products/services they offer. You can filter members by their types, review offerings & requirements, visit company profiles, user profiles or listings pages to know more about the company.  Schedule meetings: You can send request for meetings on the platform by selecting the participants you wish to invite. You can upload attachments if helpful.  Messages: Members can send instant messages to other members on the platform to network or explore opportunities. If a specific member is online, their profiles will be carrying a green "Online" tag.  Invite Colleagues: you could invite your colleagues to create their profiles so to expand your company’s presence on the marketplace.  While creating their profiles, they have to simply select the company they belong to and all the details set up by you will be pre-filled. If you have any questions or to learn more, read the User Manual in this link.   Feel free to let us know should you have any questions or need any assistance to smefinanceforum@ifc.org.   Online SME FINANCE FORUM ronyg@panapps.co America/New_York public
Jul
21
SME FINANCE FORUM
Online
Add to Calendar 2021-07-06 20:00:00 2021-07-06 20:00:00 Open Webinar - Fundraising for SMEs and Startups: DeFi vs. CeFi Decentralized finance (DeFi) is usually considered as a blockchain-based form of financial technology (FinTech) that removes intermediaries when offering financial instruments such as loans, securities and commodities. Centralized finance (CeFi), on the other hand, is another form of FinTech that requires users to trust a party to manage their financial transactions. According to CoinGecko, the total market cap of DeFi has reached USD 128 billion and 1-2 million users are interacting with DeFi protocols.   Since late 2018, DeFi has attracted a rapidly increasing number of FinTech startups, venture capitalists, traders, and even traditional financial institutions. At the same time, it raises a series of questions: What is it? How does DeFi differ from previous forms of FinTech applications using smart contracts (CeFi)?   Expanding financial services for small businesses and underserved entrepreneurs is an urgent issue for achieving UN SDG goals. DeFi’s model of de-intermediation and peer-to-peer transactions on a global scale has created enormous opportunities for financing early-stage projects that are oftentimes ignored by banks or traditional VCs. On Wednesday July 7th, 2021 at 8:00 am EDT, financial industry executives and practitioners with background on DeFi, will share lessons learned from the boom of this nascent industry, and how DeFi modules could support real world assets (RWAs) in the context of SME finance.   What you will learn ● What are the driving forces behind the DeFi boom? How much is its future growth potential? ● With more RWAs being added to the DeFi market, how will DeFi play a crucial role in raising capital for entrepreneurs and startups? ● What are the lessons learned when trying to integrate RWAs into DeFi protocols?  ● Will regulated financial institutions eventually adopt DeFi? What are the roadblocks? ● How’s the current regulatory environment?      Host  Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum   Moderator Lechi Zhang is a consultant at the SME Finance Forum of IFC. He has extensive experience assisting various fintech and blockchain companies in devising their business strategies. Prior to IFC, Lechi worked briefly in investment banking and private equity. He holds a Master's degree in Financial Policy from Cornell University and has acquired certified skills of developing blockchain network from IBM.       About the Speakers Martin Quensel is the Co-founder of Centrifuge. Martin started his career at SAP in the mid-90s as a developer and architect, where he built payment infrastructure, supplier collaboration, and procurement solutions. In the new century, he moved on to co-found several successful startups, the latest before Centrifuge being Taulia, the leading bank agnostic supplier financing network. Taulia provided in the last year $30bn of funding to its network of 2 million suppliers in around 160 countries. His expertise lies in Supply Chain Financing, Purchase-to-Pay, Order-to-Cash, and how to decentralize it. His current project Centrifuge is all about providing decentralized credit to the world.     Radoslav Albrecht is the Founder & CEO of Bitbond, a financial technology company that utilizes blockchain to provide innovative financing solutions. In 2019 Bitbond conducted Germany’s first regulated security token offering (STO). Before founding Bitbond, Radoslav worked for Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Deutsche Bank London in sales & trading. Bitbond radically improves the issuance, settlement and custody of bonds with the help of blockchain technology and tokenization. In 2019 Bitbond received regulatory approval by BaFin to run Europe’s first Security Token Offering (STO). The company makes its tokenization expertise and software and credit solutions available to banks and other intermediaries.     Gloria WU is the Chief of Ecosystem Partnerships at Ontology, the high performance, public blockchain specializing in decentralized identity and data. With a wealth of experience ranging from consultancy and product marketing, to operations and social enterprise, Gloria previously served as VP Investment and Accelerations at Blue Elephant Capital, a leader in marketplace lending investing, where she focused on early stage EdTech incubation, acceleration, and seed investment. Gloria has also held senior roles at DHL, the world's largest logistics company, and AIESEC, the world's largest youth-run organization, where she served as Director Global Experience Product Management and Marketing.     Wes Geisenberger is the Director of Business Development at Hedera Hashgraph. Wes has over five years of enterprise blockchain and DLT experience. In his work in business development Wes leads sustainability & markets strategy at Hedera. In his role Wes oversees grants, use case development, and research targeted towards innovation and disrupting how real world assets are stored on ledger, tokenized, and traded in a publicly auditable way. Wes previously worked in Emerging Technology for Oracle Corporation and has a passion for smart city and transportation use cases in DLT.       A summary of the webinar will be posted soon.   For more information, please contact: Lechi Zhang or send us an email to smefinanceforum@ifc.org. By registering to this event, you agree to the SME Finance Forum/IFC Event Privacy Notice.     Online SME FINANCE FORUM ronyg@panapps.co America/New_York public