Lydiah Kemunto Bosire

Mar 29

8B Finance, Founder & CEO

Built www.8B.finance as the first VC-backed fintech marketplace and community platform for the world’s fastest-growing university population, starting with fair and affordable student loans for African students attending college in the US
Have secured a partnership with our first US bank partner (a subsidiary of a US public company), making 8B the first international student lending platform to access bank balance sheet capital and 50-state lending capability
Oxford and Cornell alumna (company based on personal challenges financing my own global education)
Previously in the UN Secretariat, led the partnership with World Bank on concessionary financing facility for refugees; co-founded a research center on human rights in post-conflict settings at the University of Oxford; and 20 years ago, created a youth inclusion platform on a global health issue that continues today

Failures

Initially, I thought I could build 8B as a not-for-profit. I was wrong: straight-up philanthropic capital was embarrassingly disinterested. Besides, it cannot give scale, as it has many competing uses. So we had to pivot the company into a plain-vanilla student financing platform from the perspective of investors, where the transformational impact on Africa is secondary. In fact, this false start follows us negatively - whenever I mention that we are taking proven models of fintech marketplaces to a new market in Africa, people think we must be building an NGO, and suggest philanthropists we should think about, rather than connecting us with return-focused investors who want to bet on building services for the youngest population in the world!

Current Focus

Fundraising: We are now focused on our next equity fundraise, and I would love to talk to anyone who is investing in fintech/marketplaces/community or can make introductions to those who are. The current focus is on the education lending marketplace, and in the future, our data/community will enable other financial services as well as B2B verticals with universities and employers

I like running. I have interesting stories to tell about wine & ice cream. As a recovering diplomat, I am always knee-deep in foreign affairs

Global talent mobility/ the future of securing talent pipelines to universities and workplaces in the rich world/Global North
College admissions/Comparison between international students from India/China/the African continent
Anything Africa
How to balance startup-ing with little kids

Media contacts for advocacy/marketing: Would love connections with media/policy circles/ other champions that can draw attention to the fact that, because of US student visa denials (71% denial rate for West African students in 2022), the US is losing the battle for young hearts and minds on the African continent to China, which enrolls 2x the number of African students as the US.
We have African grad students in STEM, finance, analytics, business, and other quant-focused programs in US universities. Which global employers would pay to access this talent?
Fixed income investors, where to find them.

Lu Han