Interview with Claudia Tobar, Co-founder and Chief Education and Impact Officer at Kamina

Get ready to be inspired! In this edition of Founder Spotlight, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Claudia Tobar, the co-founder and chief education and impact officer at Kamina – a game-changing financial institution in Latin America. Claudia is here to take us through Kamina’s incredible story.

What inspired you to start Kamina, and what gap in the market does it aim to address?

Kamina started with a personal story from its founder Jens Thobo, who suffered from early age the impact of suicide due to a debt spiral from his father. He witnessed the ripple effect this brings to all family members and wellbeing. Understanding that his story was common for many people worldwide, inspired him to build a solution that could prevent others from falling into major debt. He had important experience working in well-being startups and also health assurance, so he combined these two industries to design a solution that causes most of the stress worldwide: financial stress. This is how Kamina comes to live and starts its own journey.

How does Kamina integrate behavioral aspects into its approach to financial management?

Humans are social creatures that are driven by emotions and bias. Understanding the influence of those forces allows us to design a behavioral informed platform in a personalized manner. Past relationships with money are crucial for future financial decisions, that is why in Kamina we offer reflection, personal connection so that users can recognize certain behavior patterns and break damaging cycles. Financial education is offered in a dynamic way, allowing users to interact with new concepts.

What role do technology and data analytics play in Kamina’s platform, and how does it contribute to personalized guidance?

Technology and data analytics are the core of our proposition. Technology allows us to personalize the experience for each user and grow the access to the model exponentially . Data on the other hand is key to deliver projections and prevention for users in their near future. Sophisticated data analysis is what allows Kami (our digital financial coach) to have conversational memory and personalized nudges to the user.

What are some of the key features or tools offered by Kamina to help users make informed financial decisions?

Our main feature is Kami, our financial coach in the center of the app, where she proactively initiates conversation to offer advice, information, and help based on user data, behaviors and actions. We have coupled this with data driven tools to build sound financial projections, which are key to have a glimpse of the future with present behavior. This tool gives users the opportunity to understand what changes they could do now to prevent a debt spiral. In addition, a debt management tool allows users to visualize all their financial obligations in one place, including formal and informal debt, and offer you advice on which ones to prioritize.

Could you share some Kamina success stories?

We have tested the model in a pilot program with great success, users manifest that Kamina is the first aid they have ever had to manage their finances. The social emotional approach is a key differentiator, users say that “I’ve always feared entering the world of personal finance, now it’s all so easy and manageable”. In one testing sprint, we lent money to individuals well below the threshold score for accessing any type of financing. Using our coaching program, we were able to achieve 100% repayment of loans and more than 50% of users started saving money for the first time.

What are some of the common financial challenges that users face, and how does Kamina help address them?

In Ecuador, people lose up to 30% of their income annually due to common financial mistakes. It is not a surprise that in Latin America people lack financial literacy. The most frequent problems are not understanding the concept of interest, the correct use of credit and not having saving habits. Those three are the major blockers for financial health. Kamina addresses those problems through reflection, simulations, practices and invitations to put them in practice with support.

How does Kamina prioritize user privacy and data security in its platform?

In Kamina, we use the most advanced technology to ensure security in navigation and people’s data. We have certifications and security protocols that allow end-to-end encryption of user information to protect their privacy. Additionally, we constantly update our platform and have a team responsible for auditing our processes to prevent any breaches.

How has securing the recent pre-seed funding impacted Kamina’s journey?

Having this financial advantage to start allows us to hire the best professionals for the development of the project and invest in the best technology. This historic pre-seed also brings great responsibility not only with investors but with our country’s high hopes for Kamina to succeed.

With the recent pre-seed funding, how has Kamina managed its cap table and investor relationships with the company’s growth objectives?

We have been blessed with investors that have brought us not only money, but networking opportunities and advisory. Among our investors and sponsors, we have been able to establish a triple A advisory board, with a vast cumulative experience in the financial industry, VC investing experience and mass market technology product experience. We issue Investor Updates on a recurring basis, where we can have our network up to date with our latest and future milestones.

Lastly, What is the roadmap for Kamina’s future development and expansion?

Kamina is a proud Ecuadorian startup that wants to test its hypothesis in Ecuador, but for 2025 we will start the international expansion to other regional countries that also need this solution. The expansion will start with Peru and Colombia and then move along to bigger markets like Chile and Mexico.