In 2019, Sonika Manandhar and Tiffany Tong teamed up to found Aloi – a Kathmandu-based fintech company that supports informal micro entrepreneurs in Nepal to overcome difficulties in accessing formal financing for their businesses.

Drawing inspiration from her family’s experiences, Sonika has a first-hand insight into the importance of access to finance for these business owners. “This is very close to my heart because my father was a micro entrepreneur himself. He used to drive a three-wheeled tuktuk in Kathmandu and faced many setbacks. Eventually, thanks to a government-supported loan, he was able to save our family from collapse, grow his business, and go on to support my education in computer engineering, which is what’s brought me to where I am today,” she explains.

The two founders identified that one of the main challenges informal sector businesses face in Nepal lies in gaining the trust of formal financial institutions to lend to them. “Traditionally this trust is gained through proven collateral and credit histories, but because they don't have any of that, we have to find other ways to build that trust. Aloi uses technology to track income and credit history so that this trust can be built,” explains Tiffany.