Entrepreneurial Finance Lab

EFL is a for-profit social enterprise company that is accelerating poverty reduction through the use of innovative tools to help Entrepreneurs in emerging markets gain access to capital so they can expand their businesses. EFL's mission is to expand access to finance in emerging markets by equipping banks with better tools to measure credit risk. Built with the aim of tackling a 2.5 trillion dollar financing gap for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) around the world, EFL's digital psychometric credit assessment evaluates small business owners on key elements of entrepreneurship in a scalable and automated manner. This breakthrough technology helps banks provide financing to previously "unbankable" market segments, bringing the developing world's most capable entrepreneurs into the formal financial fold. After spinning off from a research initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for International Development, EFL now works with leading financial institutions across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and has facilitated over $326 million in lending to SMEs. We currently operate in 14 countries and 13 languages. We’ve been recognized and endorsed by leading development organizations such as the IFC, Inter-American Development Bank, and the G-20.