The financial super app for the 2.5 million agribusinesses feeding Africa

My guest today is Shalom Ben Or, Co-founder and CEO at Avenews. Avenews is building the first financial super app for the agriculture industry catering for the 2.5 million agriculture SMEs across Sub-Saharan Africa. They empower businesses with access to capital and tools that allow them to understand and mange their business better, and source all the business services they need – all in one place.

In today’s episode, we discuss why FinTech in agriculture matters, the pain points in the sector, and why solving problems in product is not enough, instead we should focus on value. Shalom has an impressive mindset and has created a collaborative high performance culture so we also deep dive into his mind.

If you enjoy this episode it would mean the world if you subscribe and give it a follow so that we can have more impact. Remember to connect in YouTube or LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.

Let’s dive into it!

👉 You can find Shalom here

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shalombenor/
• LinkedIn Avenews: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avenews-gt/
• Website: https://www.avenews-gt.com/

👉 And you can find Monica here:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicamillares/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moni_millares
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moni_millares
• Website: https://moni-millares.mystrikingly.com/

If you enjoy this Purpose Driven FinTech pod, please subscribe in YouTube, follow and leave a 5 star rating on Spotify and a review on Apple podcasts. Remember to connect in YouTube or LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.

We cover:

(0:01:19) Underwriting capabilities and providing capital to agriculture businesses

(0:03:02) Failure and the importance of learning from losses

(0:06:17) Embrace the journey and celebrate small wins

(0:09:08) The role of purpose in the industry and shifting power dynamics

(0:13:11) Expanding into riskier markets for higher impact and returns

(0:14:50) Power dynamics in providing loans to the agriculture sector

(0:21:11) Avenues' journey in becoming a lender

(0:22:21) Importance of agriculture and its potential in Africa

(0:25:25) Influence of growing up in a Kibutz on leadership style

(0:31:24) The difference between solving problems and adding value

(0:34:15) Identifying the value clients need and linking it to solutions

(0:36:52) Building a culture of purpose-driven individuals

(0:41:21) The importance of inner flame and winning together

(0:42:36) Aligning business models with client value

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Production and marketing by Monica Millares. For inquiries about coaching, collabs, sponsoring the podcast or creating or editing your podcast email fintechwithmoni@gmail.com

Disclaimer: This episode does not constitute professional nor financial advice and does not represent the opinion nor views of my current, past or future employers. The guest has agreed to record and release our conversation for the use of this podcast and promotion in social media.