Kazi | Devpost

Inspiration

Small business are often called the lifeblood of the European economy. They represent 99% of all businesses in the EU. Small businesses also often rely on people coming through the door. COVID-19 is pushing some small businesses to become digital. However, due to lack of qualified employees and access to finance, SMEs are not taking fully advantage of digital technology in their administrative, manufacturing or sales and marketing processes.

What it does

Kazi is an online marketplace which connects SMEs to digital solutions providers and financial institutions to accelerate their digitalisation. An SME looking for a digital solution register to our platform and use our Digital barometer tool to assess his or her digital needs. The digital barometer provides solutions to the entrepreneur and a link him or her to potential service providers. SME will then contact the company to make an appointment for a free consultation. After the meeting, the SME receives a solution tailor-made to his or her need and a financial proposal to implement the solution. The SME can then ask for finance through financial institutions registered on our platform.

How I built it

I used Landen to build a prototype. Landen is a Website Builder for Startups. The approach I used was to build an MVP with basic feature to test my assumptions before we build the platform.

Challenges I ran into

I am not a software developer and I didn't manage to find a developer to support me. I had to look for an alternative to build an MVP.

What we did during the weekend

Build a prototype (a Landing page) Discussed with all stakeholders (SMEs, Digital Financial providers and Banks) Conducted small test with customers and collected feedback. Prepared the pitch deck