Our events
SME Finance Virtual Marketplace - Digital Lenders for Small Entrepreneurs
About our Virtual SME Marketplace
Each month we are running sessions featuring leading small business lenders and SME growth facilitators who present their MSMEs offerings in a 7-minute pitch to an audience of potential financial institution clients and partners looking for impactful fintech solutions.
Through those sessions - run by the SME Finance Forum - we foster collaboration between financial institutions, fintech companies, development finance institutions and investors.
We have featured 150+ companies active in many different markets, attracted +2000 participants and generated many business leads, leading to investments, partnerships, and innovation advancement.
Topics:
Digital lenders are increasingly recognizing the importance of supporting small entrepreneurs, who often face unique challenges in accessing traditional financing.
This Marketplace session will feature five digital lenders which are strategically targeting small entrepreneurs. They will share the challenges they are facing entering that market and the innovative tools they are using to make a difference:
- Data-Driven Underwriting: use of advanced data analytics and machine learning to assess creditworthiness based on a variety of inclusive business performance metrics.
- Tailored Financial Products: flexible terms, lower interest rates, and customized repayment schedules.
Fintech with direct lending operations
• Prestamype - Peru
• Validus – Southeast Asia
Fintech that helps financial institutions offer loans to SMEs
• Q-lana – West Africa – Loan Management System
• Vexi – Mexico - Credit Card Services
• Kaleidofin - India – Credit assessment tool
Speakers:
Hector Shibata, Chief Global Digital Finance, IFC - International Finance Corporation
Hector Shibata is an experienced investment professional specializing in Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Corporate Investment Banking. He leads the Global Digital Finance practice at IFC, focusing on financing fintechs, tech-enabled companies, and funds in emerging markets to promote financial inclusion, financial health, gender equality, and sustainability. Previously, Hector was a Venture Partner at Acacia Venture and led AC Ventures, a Corporate Venture Capital fund, where he invested in global VC funds and startups and structured the Coca-Cola Sustainability Fund. He also serves as the President of the Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Venture Capital Committee at IMEF and has been an adjunct professor, teaching Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Finance at EGADE Tec de Monterrey.
Milena Naitoh, Group Head of Corporate Development & Capital Markets, Validus
Milena is the Group Head of Corporate Development & Capital Markets at Validus, where she oversees equity and debt capital raising, strategic transactions and investments across the Group, based out of Singapore under the Holding Company. She is focused on the origination and management of structured finance solutions to support Validus’ FinTech SME lending strategy within the Southeast Asian region.
Prior to her current role, Milena started her career in the global operations team at Novartis AG (COO and CTO Office) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has worked in the Financial Services vertical of PwC Japan, as part of the cross-regional team responsible for building the financial risk management function (focused on ASEAN bank clients) between PwC's Southeast Asia and Japan businesses. In Singapore, she transitioned to capital markets services startup Call Levels, leading commercial operations for the company, prior to joining Validus in 2018.
Milena holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University.
Cinthia Merlos, Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer, Vexi
Cinthia is Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer at Vexi, where she leads operations, product, investor relations, and strategic planning. Previous to her current role, she led the Commercial team in Vexi, setting the foundations for growth.
She spent over 14 years in commercial and marketing roles at consumer product companies like Mars and in B2B2C at The Warranty Group, where she scaled sales from $0 to $200M as Commercial Head blending strategis vision with hands-on execution.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management & ITESM.
Laure Schlesinger, Co-founder and COO, Grupo Prestamype
Laure is the Co-founder and COO of Grupo Prestamype, the largest MSME financing fintech in Peru. She holds a Bachelor's and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Audencia Business School in France. In 2021, she was awarded the Disruptor in Finance Award. She has also been a professor at Universidad del Pacífico, specializing in innovation and startups.
Deepak Srinivas, Executive Vice President – Risk Infrastructure, Kaleidofin
Deepak has nearly 2 decades of experience in the banking and financial services domain. He is passionate about building scalable technology solutions for inclusive finance businesses. A strong believer in data driven approach to solving business problems, Deepak is leading the efforts to build the business of kaleidofin's proprietary technology platform - Risk Infra Services. Prior to kaleidofin, Deepak spent a decade with the Unitus Capital group and helped build the investment banking business whilst working with multiple NBFCs, MFIs and DFIs on numerous fund raise and strategy engagements. He also conceptualized and founded UC Inclusive Credit (UCIC) - An impact focused wholesale lending NBFC. Prior to that he also helped build the Urban Infrastructure Financing practice at Darashaw - a mid size fixed income investment bank. He has done his MBA from Symbiosis Center for Management and HRD, Pune and his graduation in finance from College of Business Studies, Delhi University.
Christian Ruehmer, Co Founder/CEO, Q-Lana Inc
Christian is the CEO and Co-Founder of Q-Lana. He is a highly regarded Investment Management, Risk Management, and Digital Transformation expert with over 30 years of experience. He worked for several multinational financial institutions as a Deputy Treasurer, Managing Director of a Structured Investment Unit, in Portfolio Management, Risk Management, and Workout/Restructuring. Christian was a Head of Risk and Chief Investment Officer for a Fund Manager for debt/equity impact investments.