Welcome to our X-Europe startup interview series. We have virtually sat down with a number of our founders from past cohorts to hear all about their solutions, vision for the future, and what made them tick during our X Europe programme. So whether you are a deep tech founder looking for startup support, an eagle-eyed investor, or simply interested in the possibilities that technology can bring to society, then we welcome you to take a read. Please meet epeer, which is building an innovative AI-based credit scoring system for financial institutions, enabling them to serve the young and the unbanked individuals.
Can you briefly explain what your solution is all about? What’s unique about it?
Epeer developed a cross-industry adaptable customer behavioral analysis tool that uses the power of AI to create the most reliable business process optimization solutions. The company’s nucleus is the technology - an innovative behavioral analysis tool with 99% accuracy of cluster prediction and 95% accuracy of determining future customer behavior. The AI-based algorithm analyses behavioral consumer data based on online activity, articles searched and read on the internet, hobbies, purchasing intentions, geolocation analysis, and more. This results in an extraordinarily accurate customer profile analysis, allowing for future customer behavior prediction. Naturally, opening the door for multitudinous applicabilities in business process optimization predominantly as a credit scoring system, but also as a risk optimization solution, as a behavioral advertising tool, and as a customer acquisition booster. All of the above provide improvements to the company's operations, enable broader service availability for individuals, and promote greater profitability. Epeer prides itself on the accuracy of the algorithm, the high quality of data, comprehensive data privacy compliance, and the algorithm’s adaptability.
What led you to start or join your company? What is the key motivation and mission behind the startup?
The financial sector offers a cross-section of opportunities for both corporations and individuals. Inevitably they are interconnected and depend on each other, similarly like the future of the world we live in, dependent on the next generation and their actions. This and a multitude of other relationships form this complex spider-web which we call capitalism. But this spider web has one large gap or might I call it broken string for the sake of the word picture. Financial institutions disregard a large customer segment - the youth - in regards to financing opportunities due to the inability to assign them a credit score. The issue is caused by an outdated credit scoring system that solely relies on assessing credit history and a fixed income – both of which young people do not possess. Ultimately, this traps the youth in a box with highly limited opportunities as they are not able to optimize their finances, creating an uncertain future. Similarly, it also leaves unused capacity for financial institutions which lose out on potential revenue attainable with this whole new segment of customers.
Initially, epeer intended to use technology based on the most recent technological advancement to create a tool that would empower financial inclusion. The technology enables the scoring of young and unbanked people who possess cell phones with internet access which would give individuals greater opportunities and decrease the gap between the rich and the poor. Nevertheless, quite quickly, we discovered the more significant potential of the algorithm - its adjustability, due to deep and machine learning, to ultimately an unlimited number of industries that face analogues problems.
Our mission is to create a powerful AI-based solution adaptable across various industries with the power to support or replace the less efficient traditional optimization processes. The solution would allow for the most efficient risk optimization in the financial and insurance sector as the behavioral analysis would be able to predict future customer behavior with 99%.
What’s the biggest milestone your startup has achieved so far, and what has surprised you most on this journey?
One of the greatest achievements of Epeer is most certainly the acquisition of technology licensing clients that analogs, are leaders in their field particularly - MASTERCARD. The corporation with Mastercard validated the value of our technology on the market and not only theoretically.
How has X-Europe helped you during the past few months?
X-Europe has provided us with valuable support over the past few months. The online events and coaching have helped us to connect with the tech world both on the investor and the startup side.
What are your goals over the next 3, 6, and 12 months?
Our growth strategy is based on geographical and product expansion. We aim to enter new markets, enabling our technology to learn from the cultural differences and serve the clients by enabling them to get the highest quality behavioral analysis solutions. On the other hand, we plan to expand our product offer by extending the exploitation of our behavioral tool in different sectors and industries. Our goal is to excel at KYC services, helping companies to know their clients, allowing for better product/service positioning and improvements.
We are currently operating on the Polish, Ukrainian, Czech Republic, and Spanish markets, all of which show high effectiveness and accuracy in our self-adaptable scoring technology. The next step is a cross-continental expansion to the USA parallel with LATAM countries as early as Q2 of 2022, after which central European countries will follow.
What advice would you give to an entrepreneur trying to pave his/her way in the Fintech landscape?
Stay motivated, give it your 150% but don’t let the company become all of you but rather just a part of you. So don’t give up the things and activities that you love because otherwise, it’s easy to lose yourself along the way.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
It’s worth going the extra mile.
What’s unique about the X-Europe program?
X-Europe believes and invests in the potential of deep tech companies in the Baltic region. This makes it very special as there are still very limited opportunities that offer such valuable partnerships, experience, and support in this region.
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