Chapter 1: Redefining our mission
Overview
So much has changed since our last blog post, six and a half months ago. We have achieved monumental milestones ranging from growth to tech development and everything in between. While we are still bootstrapped, it has been a blessing. It has allowed us to stay lean and nimble, enabling us to shift focus as we learn more about our customers and their needs. In the beginning, we were so absorbed in fundraising that we became distracted from our initial purpose: to serve others.
Predicting the needs of customers, let alone customers 9,300+ miles away, is never easy. We could hypothesize all day about what their needs and the best practices to meet them are, but it is not until we are on the ground, interacting face to face that we gain priceless insight. This insight is now utilized by a team which in the past six months has quadrupled in size, from 2 to 8 people. The new additions have brought invaluable knowledge and resources to Asaak that has allowed us to expand faster than expected.
Along with this expansion we have celebrated becoming a legal business; now officially incorporated in both Uganda and the US. We are lucky to be working with a top 10 law firm, Latham & Watkins, which has generously provided us pro-bono legal assistance for the last few months.
Lastly, within the past few months, we have tweaked our customer focus so that we can now serve three main segments: Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises (MSMEs), farmers and urban consumers. As we look forward, we aim to build technical solutions to problems as they arise, satisfying our initial customers and tailoring our services to the incoming clients. Our Asaak app has been completed and was launched in a private beta in early March. We are growing tactically, with more demand than we can currently handle.
The Business
In our previous blog post, we mentioned we had hired a lawyer in Uganda to help us incorporate and enforce contracts. Paul was able to secure us money lending license in Uganda and incorporate the Ugandan branch of our business, establishing our credibility to the Ugandan lending community. Shortly thereafter, we applied and were approved to be a part of Latham & Watkins pro-bono legal program. They have helped us in a myriad of topics, consistently providing us with world-class service. If you, dear reader, are looking for a good legal team, go with L&W, we can assure you, you will not be disappointed. As we have opened to new markets, we have been consistently setting all-time-high records for loans originated in a single day.
Given our last few months of volume, we are on track for a multi-million USD year, a huge win for us and most importantly, our customers. We set out to put a dent in the 72% of Ugandan households that lack access to credit. Our plan is to penetrate a good portion of the Ugandan market before looking elsewhere, but eventually plan on expanding to other countries within Africa and around the world. After all, approximately 70 percent of all MSMEs in emerging markets lack access to credit, representing a $2.6 T opportunity. Our ultimate goal is to provide holistic financial services to all consumers, regardless of location or status; we want to change systems instead of just building products.
The Team
Since our last post, we have quadrupled our core team, now with 8 dedicated staff. Asaak is a diverse bunch, hailing from different regions and backgrounds. Our uniqueness is our common thread, each bringing a fresh perspective to tackling these complex problems.
In fall of last year, Max and Anthony joined, as our core engineer and CTO, respectively. They both bring a breadth of experience in fintech and edtech — all of which will be utilized at Asaak. Without them, we would still be taking paper applications, marking a huge step forward in our development.
It was with profound thought and discussion that Kaivan, our beloved CEO, decided it was best to leave his day job as a Data Scientist at LendingHome to pursue Asaak without constraint in late January. In order to bring Asaak to the next level, Kaivan knew it was best to devote 110% of his time to this venture and our customers.
Shortly thereafter, Cameron came on board as our Marketing Strategist. Over the last few weeks, she has helped Asaak define its voice & brand — an invaluable task.
About a month ago, Kaivan left SF for Uganda. Titus had essentially been a one-man operation in Uganda for quite some time and he definitely needed the support! Having Kaivan there has allowed us to lend to more borrowers, establish our new office and streamline operations. In a few months time he will be back for a little to check on our US team, but having both co-founders in the country of operations has certainly re-aligned our focus.
The Tech
A lot has changed on the tech front. We published our website, gained 3 technical staff and launched a private beta of our app. Although our website is basic for now, we hope it will serve as a portal to connect our investors and our borrowers in one place. One step at a time for now! In February, we started lending to customers via our Android app in a private beta. A potential borrower must have a referral code in order to access the app for now, allowing us to control growth. The demand for credit in Uganda is overwhelming and we want to make sure we provide the best possible experience to each customer. One aspect of tech we struggled with was integrating a payments API. Gathering money from investors and sending it to borrowers cross-border is no easy task, at least, not at scale. Luckily, we have found a great payments partner in Beyonic. We have yet to encounter a single problem and their customer support team rocks!
Going forward, we hope to use this blog as a place to showcase our customers, to provide updates on our progress, give our thoughts on a range of topics and to engage you, dear friend. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram @asaakmobile to stay updated with the latest. It has been a wild ride so far and we are just getting started.
Until next time,
The Asaak Family
