EFSE DF’s fintech competition in Berlin welcomes innovative financial inclusion ideas

The Development Facility of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE DF) organized the Fincluders Startup Challenge in Berlin – a competition featuring emerging fintech companies with products designed to reduce the ranks of the world’s 2.5 billion people with no access to banking services.

The two-day event aimed to bring together best fintech startups whose products facilitate financial inclusion for micro and small enterprises and low-income households in the region the fund serves, which covers 16 countries in Southeast Europe and the European Eastern Neighbourhood. From nearly 100 entrants from across the globe, 15 finalists emerged with innovative ideas to expand financial inclusion, increase entrepreneurship, and bolster small businesses.

“To engage with the huge opportunities offered by financial technology to deliver broader, more cost effective and transparent financial services, the Fund’s Development Facility has launched the Fincluders Startup Challenge competition to identify innovative Fintech startups who are committed to financial inclusion. This event did inspire and excite as it shows the power of fintech for financial inclusion in our partner countries”, EFSE Chairman Christoph Tiskens said.

According to the official release, Tarfin won EUR 15,000 sponsored by the EFSE DF and became the first company to be dubbed as the champion of the challenge. Through its cloud-based platform, Tarfin connects retailers’ open credit sales from small-scale farmers with the lending capability of financial institutions. Using its platform, retailers minimize their receivable risks and have easy access to a cheap source of working capital. Tarfin also helps member retailers better manage receivable risk with the country’s first farmer credit risk scoring system.

“Farmers provide the daily food on our plates. But despite their importance, they remain an underbanked segment of our society. I am very happy to be able to support them through my team’s work, and the award will help me to strengthen this support by broadening Tarfin’s customer base and by further developing our products”, Mehmet Memecan, CEO and founder of Tarfin said.

Kenian-based FarmDrive secured second place and received EUR 10,000 sponsored by Finance in Motion for its idea of connecting smallholder farmers with financial institutions using mobile phone technology, alternative data sets and sophisticated data analysis.

Quotanda, a lending as a service (LaaS) platform providing a suite of student loan services, came in third and received EUR 5,000 in prize money gifted by PwC, which also acted as mentors for the finalists. A special prize went to Optio Al from Georgia, which developed a personal finance assistant based on an artificial intelligence powered chatbot.