As a young adult, Priyanka Kanwar accustomed mirror on what she enjoyed doing each day and what may change into her life’s mission. The first, she says, was pushing her boundaries, learning new stuff apace, and seizing larger challenges at each step, therefore, she could systematically grow as an individual.
Her second mission was to assist empower individuals, whether it had been her family and friends, or individuals she had ne’er met.
As she grew older, she ne’er wavered in what she wished to try and do. But, first, like most achievers, obtaining a decent education was of preponderating importance. She graduated in economics from Yale University and followed it up with various experiences in classic banking and consulting corporations like Accenture and HSBC and additionally ran one or two of worldwide non-profits as a student.
Her heart, however, had forever been in entrepreneurship, therefore she took the risk and jumped right into it to found Kite, a fintech startup, with a vision to empower individuals to have higher access to finance and technology.
She mentioned these problems for years along with her supporter, Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, and therefore the duo realized the potential in store if they used their several talent sets —Priyanka in teachers, Prabhtej in business — to form an innovative and interdisciplinary startup functioning on finance in India.
Finance solutions for the digital economy
“Kite was launched February 2014 with the idea that Indian finance urgently required a contemporary overhaul. As we saw it, the Indian economy ran on old-school tech and superannuated thinking, wherever a bank was confined to its four walls, and millions still lacked access to basic financial opportunities.
We realized that companies and shoppers alike didn’t simply need better finance solutions, however a complete system that offered them the support to grow,” she says.
On interviewing many entrepreneurs and businesses, they managed to spot gaps and inefficiencies. However, with changes like GST and therefore the push for a less-cash economy, immeasurable businesses are getting ready to enter the formal sector.
Kite’s mission is to create accessible, secure, and modern finance solutions for this new digital economy. In partnership with a number of the country’s most famous establishments, they are making a complete system to foster an economy driven by financial intelligence, letting businesses concentrate on their success, instead of their bottom line.
Kite’s platform has processed over $70 million in transactions and served 110,000 users from 1,200 cities, building monetary identities with over six million data points.
The company has conjointly partnered with a variety of worldwide recognized service suppliers, including Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay. Different partners embody a number of prime financial and B2B establishments, which offer Kite’s shoppers with access to a variety of different solutions.
Kite has additionally entered agreements with many of the ten largest banks in the Republic of India, looking to unravel the distribution desires of established banks through Kite’s trendy and accessible financial solutions. These partnerships provide Kite access to over forty million merchants globally and supply the opportunity to scale from Day one.
In firefighting mode
A young startup goes through its own set of challenges, and Kite was no completely different. “When you’re running a corporation, every single day throws up a new, sudden challenge. From managing small challenges like ensuring absolutely agile tech execution to macro ones, like building enough quality to strike the proper deals with established partners, I’m perpetually on firefighting mode.
However, looking back, the largest challenge that I even have visaged as an associate businessperson has been proving to myself that I could combat a task as risky and big as this, and with success translate our vision into reality.
Jumping into an extremely hard-to-navigate businesslike finance, as not solely a first-time businessperson however as an entire business outsider, is emotional, mentally, and physically exhausting — you’ve got to be ludicrously relentless.
There are several moments where I doubted myself as a young businessperson (and even restricted founder insomnia!), however, I’m glad I got through the lows stronger than ever before,” she reveals.
Improving access and creating impact
At the instant, Priyanka is concentrated on expanding Kite and turning it into the foremost innovative financial platform for businesses and staff across the globe.
“We are meticulously building our core technology to make sure that it will apace scale across completely different product, consumer segments, and geographies. With some very fascinating and large-scale partnerships launching shortly, I’m excited to take the corporate to the next level, and am notably keen on improving access to credit and insurance for SMBs in India,” she reveals.
She additionally desires to use Kite’s technological expertise and business network to make a robust platform for empowering underrepresented communities with education, work opportunities, and support for entrepreneurship.
“Through such initiatives and my work on Kite, I hope to grow into a robust and accountable model for female entrepreneurs and people from other typically marginalized groups,” she concludes.