Building Fintech Startups in Emerging Markets

This course is a part of Fintech Startups in Emerging Markets, a 4-course Specialization series from Coursera.

Starting a small business in an emerging market can be very rewarding. Many of entrepreneurship opportunities in emerging markets arise out of necessity, or the drive to solve a real need or a social problem. Thus emerging markets often offer huge opportunities for disruptive innovation. Entrepreneurship has contributed to economic growth and 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 by-passed or partnered with established financial institutions to serve new markets. This course takes us through the basics from “What is entrepreneurship?” to 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. There are also insights on topics like regulation, intellectual property, funding and growth that are important for startups. I’ve invited along experts who teach and support entrepreneurs. This includes some really interesting people in various stages of their start-up 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, and not only those interested in only fintech.