It wasn’t long ago that Shivani Siroya was just an upstart dabbling in investment banking. But in a few short years, big-time Silicon Valley investors like Chris Sacca declared that she was changing the world.
Siroya explained how, or at least the function of her digital-first credit-scoring company InVenture, at TheWrap’s 7th Annual Power Women Breakfast on Wednesday.
“We develop financial identities,” Siroya said of InVenture, which creates a way to evaluate loan candidates in the developing world, many of whom have never even heard of a credit score.
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Most of the data points InVenture uses exist on candidates’ smartphones — which are prevalent in the developing world. “Your cell phone is literally your entire daily life: the people you talk to, where you go, what job you have,” Siroya said.
Siroya used the example of an independent restaurant owner who only makes a profit of $5-$10 per day in West Africa. If he needs a loan to buy fruits and vegetables, he’ll have to turn to loan sharks for an interest rate of a staggering 330-700 percent.
Inventure uses a questionnaire and back-end data form to build a new kind of credit score, and, if approved, deposits a loan into the restaurant’s mobile wallet for a 3-5 percent annual fee.
Also Read: Emilia Clarke Joins Industry Heavyweights at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast 2015 (Photos)
“There are 2.5 billion people around the world in the informal economy,” Siroya said. “We ask ourselves, ‘How can we provide financial access to people we’ve never seen or heard before?'”
Watch a video clip from her full talk here.
Emilia Clarke Joins Industry Heavyweights at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast 2015 (Photos)
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"Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke speaks to Sharon Waxman about how her character on the show empowers her at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Emilia Clarke during her Keynote Speech at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28
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Emilia Clarke during her Keynote Speech at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28
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Actress Frances Fisher ("Masters of Sex") at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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Amy Landecker ("Transparent") talks to Sharon Waxman, TheWrap's CEO and editor-in-chief, at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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Shivani Siroya, CEO and Founder of InVenture Mobile was one of featured speakers at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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Shivani Siroya, CEO and Founder of InVenture Mobile speaks at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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2015 IWMF Courage in Journalism award winners Anna Nemtsova and Mwape Kumwenda talk to Sharon Waxman at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles On Oct. 28.
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2015 IWMF Courage in Journalism award winners Anna Nemtsova and Mwape Kumwenda talk to Sharon Waxman at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles On Oct. 28.
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2015 IWMF Courage in Journalism award winners Anna Nemtsova and Mwape Kumwenda talk to Sharon Waxman at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles On Oct. 28.
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Respected Hollywood producer Paula Wagner and Stephanie Beatriz ("Brooklyn Nine Nine") listen to Mwape Kumwenda speaking about an experience where she witnessed two men being shot by armed military officers in front of their wives and children in Zambia.
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Respected Hollywood producer Paula Wagner and Stephanie Beatriz ("Brooklyn Nine Nine") listen to Mwape Kumwenda speaking about an experience where she witnessed two men being shot by armed military officers in front of their wives and children in Zambia.
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Director Amy Ziering and the Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren attend TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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Diane Warren attends TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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The audience listens attentively to Ziering and Warren while introducing the music video for "The Hunting Ground"
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Director Amy Ziering and the Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren attend TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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Karen Appleton, SVP, Industry Alliances of Box and Founder of Box.org, attends TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28
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Amy Ziering, Sharon Waxman, Diane Warren and Frances Fisher embrace at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.
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Amy Landecker enjoys the Q&A with Emilia Clarke at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28
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Frances Fisher listening to a featured conversation at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Gari Ann Douglass, Chief Financial Officer of CreativeFuture, attends TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Rosalind Jarrett, SAG publicity executive, attends TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Stephanie Beatriz listening to the featured speaker at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Ruth Vitale, CEO of CreativeFuture and
producer Martha de Laurentiis talk during TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast. -
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Anna Nemtsova arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Mwape Kumwenda arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Lourdes Ramirez arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Associated Press veteran Linda Deutsch arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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"Quantico" star Anna Khaja arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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Meryl Poster, president and founder of Superb Entertainment, arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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"You're the Worst" actress Kether Donohue arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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TheWrap's editor-in-chief and CEO Sharon Waxman with "Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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"Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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"Julia" actress Ashley C. Williams arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 28.
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TheWrap's editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman welcoming attendees to TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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TheWrap's editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman welcoming attendees to TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Mwape Kumwenda and Shivani Siroya snap a selfie at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Gift bags from TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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A silent auction at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast, to benefit IWMF.
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A Ferragamo bag is auctioned at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast, to benefit IWMF.
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Sharon Waxman auctions a swimsuit at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Sharon Waxman auctioning items to benefit IWMF at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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The attendees of TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast are bidding on items, benefitting IWMF.
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Sharon Waxman and Anna Nemtsova chat before going on stage at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Stephanie Beatriz arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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"Heroes Reborn" actress Judi Shekoni arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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"Transparent" actress Amy Landecker arrives at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Sharon Waxman, Amy Ziering, Diane Warren and Frances Fisher on the red carpet at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Mwape Kumwenda shares stories of her time reporting in Zambia during TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Superb Entertainment president Meryl Poster at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Producer Martha de Laurentiis during TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
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Producer Finola Dwyer at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast.
Melanie Lynskey, Frances Fisher, Diane Warren, Paula Wagner and Amy Landecker come out for seventh annual event