Power in a Purse

The specific problem within the challenge that our solution aims to solve is the limited access to capital for MSMEs in Africa, which is hindering their growth and ability to generate positive social and environmental impact.

According to the Small Finance Forum, there are 125 million MSMEs representing over 60% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. However, they face significant challenges in accessing the financing they need to start and grow their businesses. This is particularly acute in Africa, where an estimated 70% of MSMEs lack access to formal financial services, including bank accounts, loans, and insurance.

The scale of the problem is significant, with MSMEs worldwide struggling to access the capital they need. This has a significant impact on poverty reduction, economic growth, and job creation, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Several factors contribute to the problem, including limited financial infrastructure, lack of collateral, and a perceived high-risk profile of MSMEs. These factors make it challenging for traditional lenders to provide financing to MSMEs. However, innovative solutions like impact investing platforms can help overcome these barriers by providing alternative sources of capital and facilitating connections between investors and MSMEs.

Our solution aims to use blockchain technology to provide transparency and accountability, reducing the risk of fraud and increasing investor confidence, while also offering training and mentorship to MSMEs to help them build sustainable businesses and scale their social impact. By connecting Canadian impact investors with African MSMEs, we hope to address the access to capital gap and drive positive social and environmental impact in the communities we are working in, and globally.

Our solution is a social impact investing platform that connects Canadian impact investors with African MSMEs through the use of blockchain technology.

The platform works by enabling MSMEs in Africa to create profiles and list their funding needs and social impact goals on the platform. Canadian impact investors can then search and browse these profiles to find MSMEs they want to support. Once a match is made, investors can provide funding to the MSMEs in the form of loans or equity investments.

The platform also uses blockchain technology to provide transparency and accountability to both investors and MSMEs. This includes creating a tamper-proof ledger of all transactions, reducing the risk of fraud and increasing investor confidence. Additionally, the platform offers training and mentorship to MSMEs to help them build sustainable businesses and scale their social impact.

By connecting Canadian impact investors with African MSMEs through this platform, we aim to drive positive social and environmental impact while generating financial returns. Investors benefit from the potential for high returns on their investments, while MSMEs gain access to much-needed capital to grow their businesses and drive social impact in their communities.

Overall, our platform is a win-win solution for both investors and MSMEs, using innovative blockchain technology to overcome traditional barriers to impact investing and drive positive change in Africa.

Our target population is African MSMEs who are currently underserved by traditional financing options. These MSMEs play a critical role in driving economic growth and development in Africa, but often struggle to access the capital they need to grow and scale their businesses.

MSMEs in Africa face a number of challenges that limit their access to financing, including limited collateral, a lack of financial records, and high interest rates. This often forces them to rely on informal financing sources that can be unreliable and expensive, or to simply forgo opportunities for growth and expansion.

Our social impact investing platform addresses these needs by providing a streamlined, transparent, and accessible platform for MSMEs to access funding. By creating profiles and listing their funding needs and social impact goals on our platform, MSMEs gain visibility to potential investors and can secure the financing they need to grow their businesses and drive social impact.

Additionally, our platform provides training and mentorship to MSMEs to help them build sustainable businesses and scale their social impact. This includes training on financial management, business planning, and social impact measurement. By providing these resources, we aim to empower MSMEs to grow their businesses, create jobs, and drive positive change in their communities.

Overall, our solution directly and meaningfully improves the lives of African MSMEs by providing them with access to much-needed capital, while also equipping them with the tools and resources they need to build sustainable businesses and drive social impact.

Our team is uniquely positioned to design and deliver this solution to the target population of African MSMEs. We have a deep understanding of the challenges faced by MSMEs in Africa, as well as the opportunities and potential impact that can be created through targeted investments in these businesses. We have worked with MSME's through multiple partnerships.

Our team lead has extensive experience working with MSMEs and Venture Capitalists in Africa and has previously served as a business consultant and entrepreneur in the region. Through this work, she has developed strong relationships with local business owners and community leaders, and has gained an intimate understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing MSMEs in the region. Furthermore, our team lead is a Canadian Permanent Resident who has the ability to mobilize networks in Canada to benefit from this platform.

Additionally, our team includes members with diverse backgrounds and expertise, including finance, technology, and social impact with teams in Lagos, Abuja, Johannesburg, Dakar, Nairobi, Washington DC, Conakry, Lusaka and Cairo. We are committed to leveraging this diversity to create a platform that is accessible and meaningful to all members of our target population.

To ensure that our solution is meaningfully guided by the communities we serve, we have taken a community and human-centered design approach. This has involved engaging with MSMEs, community leaders, and other stakeholders through surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. We have also partnered with local organizations and entrepreneurs to ensure that our solution is tailored to the specific needs of the communities we serve.

Throughout the design and implementation process, we have remained committed to transparency and inclusivity, regularly seeking input and feedback from our target population and incorporating this feedback into our solution. By placing the needs and voices of MSMEs at the center of our work, we are confident that our solution will have a meaningful and sustainable impact on the communities we serve.

Our solution is a prototype because we have developed a working model of our social impact investing platform and have conducted initial tests to validate its functionality and effectiveness. 

To develop our prototype, we have conducted extensive research into the needs and challenges of MSMEs in Africa, as well as the current landscape of impact investing in the region. We are using this research to inform the design of our platform, with a focus on creating a user-friendly, accessible, and impactful solution that meets the unique needs of African MSMEs.

We have also conducted initial tests of our platform with a select group of MSMEs and investors, in order to gather feedback and validate our assumptions. This has enabled us to refine our solution and ensure that it is effectively meeting the needs of our target population.

Overall, our prototype represents a significant step towards our goal of developing a sustainable and impactful social impact investing platform that can empower African MSMEs to grow and thrive.

It is currently in testing.

As we develop the prototype, we may face several barriers that Solve can help us overcome. These may include financial and technical barriers, such as securing additional funding to scale our solution, accessing relevant technology and software licenses to improve our platform, and receiving guidance on strategic planning and leadership coaching to ensure our solution's success. 

Additionally, we may encounter legal and cultural barriers in implementing our solution, such as navigating regulatory frameworks and cultural norms that may affect adoption and usage of our platform. We believe that Solve's nine-month program can provide us with access to funding, mentorship, and resources to help us overcome these barriers and advance our solution to the next stage. We are also excited about the opportunity to connect with other impact-minded leaders and organizations through Solve's powerful network.

Our solution is innovative in several ways:

1. Use of Blockchain Technology: We leverage blockchain technology to create a secure, transparent, and decentralized platform for social impact investing. This technology enables us to provide tamper-proof records of all transactions, ensure transparency and accountability, and facilitate seamless cross-border investments.

2. Empowering Underserved Communities: Our platform is designed to empower underserved communities, enabling them to access impact investment opportunities that were previously unavailable to them. By democratizing access to impact investments, we aim to promote financial inclusion and help bridge the wealth gap.

3. Holistic Approach: Our platform takes a holistic approach to impact investing, focusing not only on financial returns but also on social and environmental outcomes. We use a rigorous impact measurement framework to ensure that investments generate measurable positive impacts in the communities they serve.

4. Collaborative Approach: We recognize that solving complex social and environmental challenges requires collaboration across sectors and stakeholders. That's why our platform brings together investors, impact enterprises, and development organizations, enabling them to collaborate and co-create impact investments.

5. Gives Canadians access to lucrative emerging technologies that they did not previously have access to.

We believe that our solution has the potential to catalyze broader positive impacts from others in this space. By demonstrating the viability and impact of social impact investing, we hope to encourage more investors to allocate capital towards impact investments. As the market for impact investments grows, we expect to see more innovative solutions that leverage technology and collaboration to address the world's most pressing social and environmental challenges.

Our impact goals for the next year are:

1. Pilot the social impact investing platform with at least 10 impact investments in underserved communities in Canada, resulting in at least $1 million CAD invested.

2. Achieve a user adoption rate of at least 50% of eligible investors on the platform.

3. Develop partnerships with at least 5 impact-driven organizations, including foundations, charities, and social enterprises, to leverage their networks and support our platform's growth.

Our impact goals for the next five years are:

1. Scale the platform to have facilitated at least $100 million CAD in impact investments, unlocking new capital for underserved communities across Canada.

2. Achieve a user adoption rate of at least 75% of eligible investors on the platform.

3. Expand our platform's impact areas beyond Canada and into other countries, increasing our global impact.

To achieve these goals, we will focus on building strategic partnerships, expanding our marketing efforts to reach potential investors, and continually improving our platform's technology and user experience based on user feedback. We will also prioritize data collection and analysis to ensure we are making meaningful impact in the communities we serve.

Here are some specific indicators we are using to measure our progress toward our impact goals:

1. Number of new investors who join our platform and allocate investments toward impact-driven projects and ventures.
2. Amount of investment capital raised and allocated to impact-driven projects and ventures through our platform.
3. Number of impact-driven projects and ventures supported through our platform.
4. The social and environmental impact achieved by the supported projects and ventures, as measured by specific metrics related to the SDGs.
5. The level of engagement and satisfaction of our investor and project/venture partners, as measured by regular surveys and feedback mechanisms.
6. The number of partnerships established with organizations, governments, and other stakeholders to expand our impact and reach.

Our solution aims to provide an online platform that connects impact investors with social enterprises in need of funding. By doing so, we expect to increase the flow of capital to social enterprises, allowing them to grow and expand their impact. This will result in increased economic opportunities, job creation, and poverty reduction in the communities where these social enterprises operate. Additionally, the platform will provide investors with a new avenue to invest their capital in a way that aligns with their values and generates a positive social and environmental impact.

Our theory of change is that by increasing the availability of impact investment opportunities and streamlining the process of connecting investors with social enterprises, we will create a more efficient market for impact investing. This will attract more investors to the space, increasing the overall amount of capital available for social enterprises. 

As social enterprises grow and scale, they will create new jobs and economic opportunities, which will contribute to poverty reduction and economic development. Furthermore, as more investors see the positive impact of their investments, we anticipate a ripple effect that will lead to a greater understanding and adoption of impact investing as a viable investment strategy. We will measure our progress by tracking the number of social enterprises funded through our platform, the amount of capital invested, and the number of jobs and economic opportunities created as a result of these investments. We will also survey investors to gather feedback on their experience and track changes in their attitudes and behaviour towards impact investing.

The core technology that powers our impact investing platform solution is a cloud-based software system that leverages blockchain technology. The platform provides a secure and transparent way to invest in impact projects that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The system uses smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. These contracts automatically trigger the transfer of funds to the project owners once specific milestones or outcomes are achieved.

Investors can track the progress of their investments in real-time through the platform's dashboard, which provides transparent information on the performance of each project. The platform also incorporates machine learning algorithms to provide personalized investment recommendations based on an individual's risk profile and preferences.

To ensure accessibility for those with limited access to the internet, our solution will offer multiple modes of communication. We plan to offer our services through a toll-free phone number that individuals can call to receive support and access the platform. Additionally, we will explore partnerships with ecosystem partners and local organizations such as accelerators to offer in-person support and training to those who may not have regular access to the internet or may not feel comfortable using online platforms. We will also work to make our website and platform as mobile-friendly as possible, so individuals can access our services on their smartphones if they have data access. Finally, we will explore the use of SMS technology to provide basic information and support to those with limited internet access.

Overall, the platform's technology allows for a streamlined and secure process for impact investing, which can increase access to investment opportunities that align with an individual's values and impact goals.

Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the team providing the impact investing solution is crucial for ensuring that the solution is designed, developed, and implemented in a way that truly addresses the needs and experiences of the target population. Our team is committed to fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the following ways:

1. Recruitment: We aim to attract and retain a diverse team of individuals with varied backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We prioritize recruiting from a range of sources and networks to ensure that we reach a broad pool of candidates.

2. Training and development: We invest in training and development opportunities for all team members to enhance their knowledge and skills related to diversity, equity, and inclusivity. This includes regular workshops and training sessions on topics such as cultural competency, unconscious bias, and inclusive communication.

3. Inclusive decision-making: We strive to make decisions through a collaborative and inclusive process that includes diverse perspectives and ideas. This involves actively seeking out and valuing input from team members with different backgrounds and experiences.

4. Accountability and transparency: We hold ourselves accountable to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity through ongoing evaluation and monitoring of our progress. We are transparent about our goals and progress towards achieving them, and we actively seek feedback from team members and external stakeholders to inform our approach.

5. Partnership and community engagement: We seek to partner with organizations and individuals who share our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity. We prioritize engagement with the target population and their communities to ensure that our solution is truly responsive to their needs and experiences.

Our impact investing platform operates on a revenue-sharing model where we take a percentage of the fees charged on the investments made through the platform. Our primary customers are impact investors who are interested in investing in socially responsible and sustainable projects, and our beneficiaries are the social enterprises that receive the investment funds to grow and scale their impact. We provide value to both our customers and beneficiaries by facilitating the investment process, providing due diligence and impact measurement services, and creating a transparent and trustworthy marketplace for impact investing. Our platform also provides education and resources for investors to learn more about impact investing and the impact of their investments. Ultimately, our goal is to create a sustainable and scalable business model that can drive positive social and environmental impact while generating revenue to support our ongoing work.

Our impact investing platform's primary source of revenue will be through commissions or fees charged on investments made through the platform. We plan to take a percentage of the investment amount or a commission based on the value of the assets under management. Additionally, we may generate revenue by providing consulting services to clients on impact investing strategies or providing access to impact investing opportunities that are not available through our platform.

We also plan to seek grants and donations from foundations, government entities, and other philanthropic organizations to support our work. We will seek to build long-term relationships with donors who share our mission and values to ensure sustainable funding for our operations and growth.

In the long run, we may also consider raising investment capital through equity financing or other funding mechanisms to expand our platform and develop new products and services that align with our mission. However, any such funding would be aligned with our social and environmental impact goals and values.

As a relatively new impact investing platform, we have not yet raised specific funding for this aspect of our work. However, we have been successful in securing small grants for training purposes, which have allowed us to build capacity and develop our platform. In addition, we have also been investing our own funds to support the development of the platform