Fintech is having a moment in venture capital circles—a $36 billion moment. And even though most of that venture capital investment last year didn’t flow to early-stage, emerging-market startups delivering affordable services to low-income customers, Tahira Dosani thinks the flood of capital is a good thing. Dosani is co-managing director of Accion Venture Lab, Accion’s initiative for early-stage investing in financial inclusion.
“There’s more capital coming into fintech, and that means more entrepreneurs, more startups, more business models,” she told ImpactAlpha. “I generally see that as good for the customer.” She joined Venture Lab in 2013, but advancing economic and financial inclusion has been the theme of her career since a stint in Kabul in 2006, where she worked with telecom company Roshan to set up Afghanistan’s first mobile money network.