Content area
Full Text
Financing is always difficult for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), especially in high-risk jurisdictions such as Rwanda, and numerous entities from traditional banks to microlending NGOs have devised approaches to mitigate the problem.
Three years ago, entrepreneurs Craig Allen, Chris Hale and Catherine Nomura founded Kountable to help entrepreneurs surmount trade finance barriers. One innovation is in the way the San Franciscobased startup uses technology to evaluate entrepreneurs based on their social media profiles. Kountable also relies on mobile tech to track and service its three-way deals; one could call it a "techfin"-less a financial technology company than a technological finance company.
Since early 2014 when it started funding trades in earnest, the company has facilitated about $10 million in business so far. One such deal involved...