"Genera is a family lifestyle management platform which enables users to save, invest, insure, gift, pay bills, write their wills and set up educational or living trusts in favour of named beneficiaries. Genera also allows users to have a listed registry of assets to enable ease of wealth management and documentation."
Yewande Akinse Co-founder at Genera Finance
Q1:Tell us about your yourself:
I'm a multi-dimensional individual committed to solving problems. I hold a Bachelor's and Masters Degree in Law from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. I am a serial entrepreneur and Co-founder at Genera Finance. I am also the Author of two collections of poetry titled, "A tale of being, of green and of ing" (2019) and Voices: A collection of poems that tell stories.
Q2:What does your company do?:
Genera is a digital solution targeted at solving the problem of poverty in African families by enabling couples and communities save funds and invest in high yielding instruments while giving users access to financial planning and information required to build generational wealth, together.
In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(UN SDG) of zero poverty, Genera as a financial planner is poised to enable African families create sustainable financial security for present and future generations thereby making a difference in lives. Our legacy feature enables couples write wills for their children, set up living trusts, educational trusts for their children.
Genera is committed to protecting and securing the future of the African child. Our plan in five years is to onboard over 5 million families on the platform, to scale our operations to other African countries and to eliminate the scourge of poverty in Africa.
Q3: What inspired you to start your business?:
We realised a problem, there is zero to low transference of intergenerational wealth among low to middle income earning families, the inability of families to plan for financial emergencies before they arise, the inability of families to plan for the needs of their growing numbers among others.
It is with these problems and many more in mind that Genera was born as a wholesome family lifestyle management platform which. enables individuals and families to plan for their needs and expansion. On Genera, users can save, invest, insure, gift, pay bills, write their wills and set up educational trusts of living trusts for named beneficiaries.
Q4: How do you define your business model; what differentiates your products or Services from others?:
Genera is a family lifestyle management platform which enables users to save, invest, insure, gift, pay bills, write their wills and set up educational or living trusts in favour of named beneficiaries. Genera also allows users to have a listed registry of assets to enable ease of wealth management and documentation.
Q5: Starting a business is not easy. What struggles did you experience in the infant years of your company and how did you overcome it?:
At our infant years, we faced problems of finding the right team to onboard on the project. This was so difficult as competing interests and lack of employee commitment attempted to stall the business in its infant stages. We overcame this problem by searching for the right talents whose mission, vision and culture aligns with that of our organisation.
Q6: What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got started?:
These days, I know the value of people and finding the right team. Before this time, I thought having money alone was what it took to run a successful business. Now, I know the value of people and having the right company culture.
Q7: What are your 3 priorities right now:
Our main priority at the moment is raising funds. Subsequently, we will be looking to expand our team of rockstars
Q8: What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?:
Our vision in five years is to enable over 5 million Africans to be financially sustainable. We also aspire to be a unicorn by 2030
Q9: Advice to other entrepreneurs or to your younger self?:
My advice to other entrepreneurs is to never give up. Entrepreneurship is such a daunting path but the secret is to keep pressing on.
Venture Capital deals pumped more money into Africa in 2021, which is more than the preceding 7 years combined, breaking varied records with an investment of over $5.2 billion in total, recorded during 2021. Which marks a 104% increase from the 319 reported in 2020.
This reflects a welcome maturation in Africa’s entrepreneurial space. Fintech, in particular, continues to dominate venture funding for African startups. It represented 54% of all venture funding on the continent in 2021 and is responsible for the biggest deals in 2022
That is a good sign and that is why it's an opportune time for Genera Finance to be building a financial technology product that serves the underserved market. We wish Yewande Akinse and the Genera Finance team all the best as they expand their team, impact and reach.
The African continent is Fintech's industry dream. Africa is currently the second fastest growing in the world when it comes to the adoption of financial technology products. This is due to the widespread use of mobile phones with over 650 million mobile users and growth in internet reach has created a unique opportunity to increase access to financial services.
This is a great time for Yewande Akinse to be building Genera Finance , creating jobs and creating impact. I wish them all the best as they pursue fundraising to scale their team.
Lethu Kapueja Research and Innovation Management - Engisource
The African Fintech industry has had a great run with financing in the last five years. As a sector that develops a culture of disruption in the banking, insurance, investments and payments sectors, it not only brings a new education to cash-based economies, but also builds the basic infrastructure to allow for seamless access to financial products to the underserved communities. AfCFTA needs such ideas for it to succeed. It is good to see how Yewande Akinse and the Genera Finance team has located itself as both a catalyst to this new culture of trade, and deliberately set out to change mind-sets around financial services in the continent.
Connect with Yewande Akinse
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