Supivaa: Empowering WSMEs Through the Power of AI
Supivaa is an impact investment advisory firm where gender equality and impactful growth converge. Our name reflects our unwavering commitment to "Supporting the Divas in Africa". We believe in the transformative potential of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and women-led/owned SMEs (WSMEs) to be vehicles for positive socioeconomic change. We also recognise the critical role that impact investors – both asset owners and managers – play in redistributing resources and catalysing systemic changes.
In addition, our tailored services for programmatic partners focus on identifying, assessing, and implementing co-collaborative investments that deliver powerful financial returns and meaningful socioeconomic outcomes. Our expertise lies in bridging the Gender-Lens Investing (GLI) funding gap. By empowering WSMEs to become investment-ready and enabling investors and partners to transition from being "gender-accidental" to "gender-intentional" and ultimately "gender champions" Supivaa redefines the very principles of equitable and sustainable growth. Through our efforts, we aspire to create a world where gender equality and financial success are not mutually exclusive but are inextricably linked.
Our deep knowledge of global growth markets is grounded through a core team based in Sub-Saharan Africa and a global consultant network. We are both Canadian and African, with offices in Vancouver and Nairobi, and we operate across three critical sectors: agriculture, renewable energy, and healthcare.
Supivaa AI
Supivaa.AI, powered by Alchemy, is a revolutionary platform designed to bridge the financial gap for women-led/owned SMEs (WSMEs) across Africa by connecting them with Partnering Financial Institutions (PFIs) offering right-sized products and services. The platform addresses a key issue in gender-lens investing: unequal access to finance for women-led enterprises. Women often face barriers such as entrenched gender biases, limited access to financial services, and a lack of credit histories. Supivaa.AI’s mission is to identify and support high-potential growth businesses led by women, levelling the playing field and ensuring they have equal access to capital.
Supivaa.AI will be incubated through the African Guarantee Fund (AGF)'s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Guarantee for Growth G4G) facility. By leveraging AGF’s relationships with PFIs, Supivaa.AI helps WSMEs understand and meet loan requirements while providing financial institutions with valuable insights into the challenges of financing these enterprises.
The AI-driven platform matches WSMEs with PFIs based on individual credit profiles, offering customised credit scores tailored to each PFI's underwriting criteria.
Currently, many WSMEs in Africa lack formal credit scores, and when they are rejected for loans, they often don’t receive feedback on why they were not successful. Supivaa.AI seeks to change this by empowering WSMEs with the information they need to become investible. In addition, WSMEs receive a detailed report outlining their strengths and areas for improvement.
WSMEs that don’t initially meet funding requirements are provided with capacity development support, ensuring they receive the guidance necessary to improve their business viability and become “investment-ready.” This approach maximises their growth potential and ensures personalised, credit-ready support for each business.
Loan sizes offered through the platform will vary, ranging from KES 5,000 (CAD 52) to KES 200 million (CAD 2 million), depending on the PFI. Supivaa.AI will launch in Kenya with 2-3 PFIs in itsa beta phase, expected by early 2025. Collaboration with KenInvest, the Kenyan Investment Authority, will support the rollout across multiple counties. Additionally, Supivaa.AI seeks partnerships with like-minded organisations to build the WSME pipeline and expand its capacity-building offerings.
In the first 18 months, Supivaa.AI aims to onboard 1,500-2,000 SMEs, with a target of at least 50% securing investment through the platform. This will be largely achieved through the support of strategic partners, such as the Kenyan Investment Authority which will leverage its county network to bring diverse WSMEs to the platform. Supivaa.AI will also look to expand its networks of PFIs and capacity development resources to ensure that WSMEs have access to all the resources they need to thrive.
Lessons learned
In our experience, the “agent group approach model” will be crucial in empowering WSMEs to fully utilise the platform’s omnisupport channels. Many women entrepreneurs face financial constraints, with limited savings due to dependents and minimal borrowing capacity from family and friends. Strict credit and collateral requirements also block their access to formal banking. We’ve seen women running successful informal businesses who, with the help of an agent and being part of a group, have been able to grow and formalise operations, achieving both financial independence and long-term sustainability.
In short, we are excited to test this approach across both urban and rural settings. We are also interested in understanding if and why WSMEs have better credit opportunities if they follow certain CD programmes.
For more information contact Kyambi Kavali: kyambi@supivaa.com
September, 2024
This publication is made possible by CAFIID’s Gender Lens Investing Community of Practice
