The Team

We are a team of close friends who formed at The University of Tampa. We all have a passion for social entrepreneurship and are willing to do what others are not in order to make a social change. We have previously worked in both South African and Indian slums. Coming from three different continents and 5 different countries, we believe our diversity and experiences give us a significant advantage in disrupting the poverty cycle.

Risks and Challenges

We know we can make a change, but we are not naive to do this on our own and have been working closely with NGO's and field partners who have years of experience in these communities. We do, however, understand there are risks involved.

In order to reduce the risk of defaults on repayments, we ensure the maximum investment is no more than 10% of the annual income of the micro-entrepreneur. Our system tracks the performance of the craftsmen and work with field partners to ensure repayment of the collateral free loans. In addition, investors can diversify investments into several small businesses to reduce risk and enhance impact.

Our preconceived notions before visiting the India slums were that distribution and returns would be our single biggest challenge. However, we were excited to see the efficiency and formality of the existing networks that are in place around the slums and will be working with third-party distribution channels to ensure fulfillment of the orders. We will also have a rating system and feedback loop on our craftsmen so it is in their best interest to maintain quality and utilize our platform to be eligible for higher value loans in future.

What is OptiMrkt?

A peer to peer investment platform with multi-channel ecommerce integration, optimizing repayments of micro-loans through % of every sale. OptiMrkt came together as a team representing the University of Tampa at the Hult Prize 2016. As a social enterprise, OptiMrkt aims to bring financial inclusion by connecting the “haves” with the “have nots”, optimizing the lives of millions living in poverty.

How is OptiMrkt different from other micro-financing websites?

OptiMrkt is the first and only micro-lending platform that utilizes a unique repayment method by integrating e-commerce to facilitate the repayment of micro-loans and creates transparency between investors and micro-entrepreneurs. Unlike other micro-loan websites, OptiMrkt offers direct person-to-person micro-lending with no local intermediary organizations charging extra percentage (which sometimes goes above 30%), to ensure micro-enterprises and micro-entrepreneurs are not exploited. OptiMrkt allows investors within India and from around the world to impact invest and earn from the growth of micro-enterprises.

Why would investors choose OptiMrkt?

Investors choose OptiMrkt because of our transparency, real-time returns and updates on the business they invest in. 15%-30% of every transaction of the borrower goes toward repaying the principal loan. Ramzan, for example, has a customer that purchases $10 worth of products, 15% of that transaction ($1.50) goes back to the repayment of his loan, and remaining $8.50 goes to Ramzan, allowing Ramzan to focus on growing his business and serving his customers.

This offers investors with an interesting and transparent lending experience with a direct person-to-person connection that even leads to friendship. Further, unlike other micro-lending platforms, at OptiMrkt investors receive interest returns on their investment. Our transparent platform also provides investors with real-time updates and opportunities to re-invest in a diverse portfolio of micro-enterprises.

OptiMrkt - YOU are the Change India Needs

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The Team