#HERchanger Founder Feature: Assel Beglinova and Vadim Lidich
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The very first time I met Assel in a post pitching networking event online this past July 2021 I knew she’d be a great nomination for #HERchanger. I’m so excited to be introducing Assel Beglinova the CEO of Paperstack and her co-founder CTO Vadim Lidich. Fresh out of Google’s second Women Founders Accelerators cohort, Toronto-based FinTech startup Paperstack has secured their pre-seed investment from a cohort of angel investors, including employees of several Canadian unicorn companies.
Share with us the world changing problem being solved- please share which SDG goal(s) being addressed
Democratizing access to financial services including bookkeeping and taxes. What attracted the attention of investors is Paperstack’s technology-assisted bookkeeping and tax filing solution is specifically designed for freelancers. The product will allow self-employed professionals to track business expenses, find valuable tax deductions, remit GST/HST, and prepare annual tax returns.
“Unfortunately, being a freelancer requires you to do your own bookkeeping and taxes,” said Malhotra. “Freelancers hate doing that, as it’s not an ideal use of their time, it makes them uncomfortable, and doesn’t help them produce income. Paperstack solves this exact problem.”
What is so unique about this solution?
fully automated, affordable, fast, convenient
Why is this important to you?
I want to help every freelancer, contractor, and gig worker minimize their taxes.
What #RealRaise advice would you give to fellow founders who are actively in the fundraising trenches?
Less than three percent of venture capital goes to female founders,” Lidich noted in an interview with BetaKit. “You add an immigrant label to that mix, and I think the number drops to something like below one percent. It is a real challenge, and, if nothing else, we hope this progress we’ve made inspires other female founders, other immigrant founders to believe in themselves.”
Assel said other female founders, international students, and immigrants might believe it’s hard to be successful because of language or other barriers, but “I just want to say it’s still possible, and nothing should stop you.”
Closing the round was one of the hardest things Lidich and Beglinova have ever done in their professional career, Lidich said. “Very early when we only had $100,000 committed I started emailing every Canadian CEO in technology you could possibly imagine.”
One of them finally replied, said Lidich. “That was such a game changer for us. That was when things really turned around.” Altogether, he estimates they spoke to about 100 individual investors. They’d start at six in the morning with a call, finish late in the evening, and then have to debrief and prepare for the next day.
“It was crazy, but we were lucky the way it turned out,” Lidich said.
Both founders appreciate their recent good fortune, and want others to know they’re not alone as they begin their own ventures. Lidich said people don’t need 10 or 15 years of experience in the industry to start a company.
“We are an example of that,”he said. “I really hope things that we’re doing here and millions of other entrepreneurs in Canada can be an example that you can come from anywhere, be anyone and still succeed in your venture.”
What’s next for Paperstack?
The funding Paperstack raised will be used to develop and take the product to market as well as to staff up. The firm anticipates releasing its solution in Ontario late this year, followed by a gradual cross-Canada rollout in 2022.
Original source: https://betakit.com/following-google-accelerator-nod-paperstack-attracts-250000-pre-seed-round-interest-from-canadas-unicorns/
To help fellow founders fundraising in the trenches Assel sits down with CEO of WeTransact to share the details about her #RealRaise journey and process.
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