Articles by Akansha Kasera
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Guest Articles
Thursday
August 19
2021Three Common Mistakes Startups Make When Running Lean Experiments – And How To Avoid Them
Reaching product-market fit is critical to growing a startup, but the process can be chaotic, as founders must solve multiple problems at once. But while planning and strategizing can address some of these issues, Akansha Kasera and Malika Anand at Catalyst Fund argue that the most robust solutions come from experiments and iterations. They explore the lean experimentation approach used by Catalyst Fund's portfolio companies, share a free product-market fit toolkit that can guide experiment design — and highlight three mistakes to avoid during this crucial process.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Guest Articles
Tuesday
May 4
2021Building Inclusion Into the Investment Process: Four Steps for Addressing Bias Against Women Startup Founders
While overall global funding for startups grew in 2020, women founders received 27% less investment than the previous year. The problem is particularly troubling in emerging markets, where only 11% of seed funding went to companies with a woman on their founding team in 2019. Akansha Kasera and Malika Anand at BFA's Catalyst Fund discussed the issue with two female venture capitalists, Lexi Novitske from Acuity Ventures and Lelemba Phiri from Enygma Ventures: They share four steps the investment industry should take to boost gender equity and reduce bias against women startup founders.
- Categories
- Investing
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Monday
October 21
2019Inclusive Fintech in Practice: Chipper Cash Illustrates Three Keys to Tackling Cross-Border Payments in Africa
Though the mobile money revolution has reshaped East Africa, only around 8% of the region's residents actively send or receive payments across borders. Akansha Kasera at BFA’s Catalyst Fund discusses how Chipper Cash is addressing the need for cross-border transactions through a simple, affordable payments platform. She breaks down what's driving the platform's rapid growth – and what other providers can learn from it.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
