What is the name of your organization?
Shecluded Company Ltd
What is the name of your solution?
Shecluded AI lens (SAIL)
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Shecluded AI Lens leverages AI to provide financial literacy, funding access, and business support for women entrepreneurs in underserved communities.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Lagos, Nigeria
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
NGA
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
In Nigeria, 30% of women are financially excluded compared to 21% of men, leaving 17 million women without access to formal financial services. Globally, 1.4 billion people remain unbanked, with women 7% less likely than men to access financial services (World Bank). Among Nigeria’s 23 million women entrepreneurs, many struggle with financial exploitation, poor financial decisions, and barriers to capital. A study by EFInA found that only 35% of Nigerian women are financially literate, compared to 47% of men. This financial knowledge gap limits their ability to make informed decisions about credit, investments, and business growth. Also, many women face economic inequality, such as collateral-based loans, exorbitant interest rates, and exclusion from business training opportunities which further restrict their access to funding. Despite their hard work, these barriers trap women in cycles of underinvestment, preventing them from scaling their businesses and achieving financial independence.
What is your solution?
We have developed a smart digital platform that uses AI to provide women with personalized financial literacy courses, business education, advisory support, and funding opportunities tailored to their needs. Our web app goes beyond traditional credit checks by assessing creditworthiness through alternative data like business performance, transactions, revenue, and participation in accelerator programs making it easier for women to access fair and flexible financing. The platform matches users with micro-loans and financial products from partner institutions, helping to bridge Africa’s $42 billion financing gap for women-led businesses.
But we don’t stop at financing. SAIL helps women make smarter investment decisions based on their risk appetite, financial goals, and business needs. It also offers real-time business advice on pricing strategies, cash flow management, and operational efficiency, giving women the insights they need to grow their businesses. Also, SAIL has a grant and funding discovery tool that connects women to funding opportunities, ensuring they have the resources to scale and succeed.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution is designed for women entrepreneurs in Africa’s high-growth sectors, such as fashion, hospitality, entertainment, green energy, and renewable products. SAIL will first serve Shecluded’s existing community of 35,000 women entrepreneurs, leveraging our deep understanding of their needs. These women face systemic barriers, such as rigid lending models that demand collateral, gender biases that categorize them as high-risk, and limited financial literacy that hinders business growth. Without equitable access to finance, many resort to informal lenders with exploitative interest rates, trapping them in cycles of debt.
The majority of these women operate cash-based businesses with no formal financial record, making it difficult for banks to assess their creditworthiness, even when their businesses generate steady revenue. They also lack investment products tailored to their risk appetite and business needs, limiting their ability to build wealth.
SAIL dismantles these barriers by using AI to assess creditworthiness through alternative data, provide personalized financial education, match women with funding opportunities, and offer AI-driven investment insights. By empowering women entrepreneurs with access to capital, financial knowledge, and smart business tools, Shecluded AI Lens enables them to scale their businesses, achieve financial stability, and drive economic prosperity.
