Fintech Startups in Emerging Markets

This course explores the developments that have fueled the emergence of fintech companies around the world. Following the changing regulatory environment, especially since the 1997 Asian and 2008 global financial crisis, governments have enacted far-reaching new financial regulations for safeguarding financial stability. However, banks and financial institutions have found it increasingly difficult to be profitable in these new regulatory environments. Technology is taking leaps forward in artificial intelligence and blockchain and this has created new opportunities for fintech entrepreneurs. This course discusses fintech regulation using case studies from China and South Africa. The course pays special attention to the socioeconomic environment in emerging markets, as well as to political risk as a major source of uncertainty for fintech entrepreneurs. Peer-to-peer lending and remittances are used as leading examples for growing fintech innovation in emerging markets.

This course is for entrepreneurs needing to understand the blockchain and distributed ledger technologies that are fundamentally changing how financial and personal data is handled. The course will discuss blockchain as a distributed ledger and introduce distributed consensus as a mechanism to maintain the integrity of the blockchain. The other revolutionary technologies that are changing the world are artificial intelligence and machine learning. You will learn about the three major types of AI algorithms: supervised and unsupervised machine learning, as well as reinforcement learning. You will learn about the application of blockchain outside of finance. In particular, how blockchain fundamentally changes the way we deal with our personal data. This challenges the traditional Web 2.0 model, where big companies like Facebook and Google collect as much of your personal data as possible to sell to third parties. The new Web 3.0 is decentralized and uses the power of the blockchain to put users in full control over their own data. Finally, we will look at the benefits and considerations of blockchain and whether blockchain is the right solution for your problem.

Starting a small business can be very rewarding. This course starts by asking “What is entrepreneurship?” to then begin applying commonly used business planning tools, such as design thinking and business model canvas. Design thinking is a methodology that encourages startups to focus on user-centric products and services. Topics like regulation, intellectual property, funding, and growth are covered as they relate to building startups. Many of the entrepreneurship opportunities and especially those in emerging markets arise out of necessity, driven to solve a real need or a social problem. Thus emerging markets are often seen as offering huge opportunities for disruptive innovation. Entrepreneurship has contributed to economic growth and has been able to respond to social problems, helping some communities prosper. With the rise of fintech, financial solutions using technologies such as the cloud, blockchain, and machine learning have bypassed or partnered with established financial institutions to serve new markets. We invited some really interesting people in various stages of building their startups to explain their business development. We will be talking with Zlto (a digital currency), Yoco (mobile payments), Proof of Steak (alternative asset investment), and Kuba (a digital ‘middleman’ for small businesses) to name a few. As we will learn, there is no such thing as being ‘ready’ or, choosing the ‘perfect time’ to become an entrepreneur. You are already one, so let’s take the next steps on your entrepreneurial journey by joining your peers around the world on this course. This course is for everyone anywhere, not only those inspired by fintech in emerging markets.