Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30
The entrepreneurs on this year’s Finance & Venture Capital list are helping consumers fund their educations and businesses.
“Study Now Pay Later” is the motto of EduFi, a Lahore-based startup run by: Alina Nadeem This is to enable more Pakistanis to attend university. Nadeem’s concept is simple. She found that some families who are on a salary cannot afford to pay in a lump sum at the beginning of the semester, but can afford to pay monthly tuition.
Nadeem is one of this year’s entrepreneurs Asia Under 30: Finance and Venture Capital List They have more convenient access to capital.
EduFi has partnered with 27 universities in Pakistan (the number has doubled in the last six months) to attract potential customers in a unique way. We conduct our own credit review and pay tuition fees to approved students who repay their loans monthly based on their academic progress.
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The London representative for Goldman Sachs and Ventura Capital has been working on education issues since high school. She spent the summer working for the Progressive Education Network, a Lahore nonprofit that runs schools for underprivileged children. “My Girlfriend EduFi is an extension of the work I have been doing since childhood, striving to bring education to the masses,” says Nadeem. It is a huge need in Pakistan. According to World Bank projections for 2021, only 13% of Pakistanis have tertiary education.
After a successful pilot launch in 2021, Edufi began disbursing loans earlier this year. EduFi’s $6.1 million pre-seed round in November, led by Zayn VC, was the largest in Pakistani startup history, investors believed.
Same as Pakistan, Sarhail Bawani He is head of product at fintech company Abi, which allows employees to withdraw a portion of their paycheck before their next payday if they are in dire need of cash. Abhi works on her B2B2C model, partnering with companies such as Unilever Pakistan to provide services to their employees as benefits. Avi expanded into the Middle East and Bangladesh. The company also issued a $6.8 million Islamic bond in May 2023, following a $17 million Series A in 2022. Mr. Bawani is also the CEO of the company’s payment services subsidiary, Abipay.
Aaresh Avrani, Co-Founder of Credit Wise Capital.
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Another example is Aaresh Avrani, Co-founder of Credit Wise Capital (CWC), an India-based financial company specializing in motorcycle loans. Founded in 2019, CWC raised $6 million in seed funding a year later. By using technology such as his WhatsApp bot for credit scoring, CWC minimizes the application process and makes it easier for people with no credit history to get a loan. “This has enabled some first-time credit buyers to own two-wheelers, improved agriculture, livelihoods and provided opportunities for education and skills development,” Avrani said. CWC’s customers are primarily located in the second, third and fourth tier cities of the country. The company is also expanding its business into personal loans and medical insurance.
In Bangladesh, Abdul Ghaffar Sadi, MD Tushar and medical doctor.Shahidul Islam Based in Dhaka, he founded Drutoloan, which means “quick loan” in English. The company helps micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises obtain loans from banks and financial companies, assisting with administrative procedures and assisting with creditworthiness evaluations by lenders. Since its founding in 2019, the company has disbursed more than $2 million in loans, according to its co-founders. In November, the company raised $125,000 in pre-seed funding.
Michaela Helen Reyes, co-founder of Parallax.
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And to make it easier and cheaper to move money around the world. Michaela Reyes He co-founded Manila-based cross-border payments startup Parallax. She started her company in 2023 after working as a freelancer and experiencing the hassle of receiving paychecks from other countries. Parallax initially targeted users in the Philippines, but now she has customers from over 150 countries. In September, Parallax raised $4.5 million in seed funding in a round led by Dragonfly Capital.
See full data on Asia’s 30 Under 30 in 2024. finance and venture capital list hereand complete 30 people under 30 in Asia in 2024 coverage, click here.
