About Youverify:
Youverify is a leading RegTech company at the forefront of revolutionizing how businesses approach compliance. With cutting-edge solutions that encompass transaction monitoring, KYC, risk assessment, and more, Youverify empowers businesses to navigate the complex landscape of regulatory requirements seamlessly.
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Damilola:
Welcome to Youverify’s Compliance Podcast Series Powered by Cutting Edge A.I. Technology. We’re here to help you identify compliance gaps, navigate the intricate landscape and provide you with in-depth insights into Youverify’s cutting-edge technology and compliance products. My name is Damilola Amodu. I’m the program coordinator at Youverify. In this episode, I have an amazing guest in the studio with me.
Damilola:
It’s good to have you here.
JoseMaria Michael:
Hello Damilola. Thank you so much for having me.
Damilola:
II intentionally introduce you because I want you to do the honours. Please introduce yourself.
Josemaria Michael:
My name is JoseMaria Michael, one of the co-founders of Keble. Essentially, Keble is a platform that allows Nigerians and Africans to invest in global asset opportunities for a fraction of the cost.
We’ve been around for give or take, three years now, and we’ve helped real estate developers in different countries assess capital easily via our platform.
Damilola:
Amazing. So why is it different countries? Is it just Africa or the global market?
Josemaria:
So yeah, we’ve offered opportunities in real estate in Nigeria, in Ghana, in the U.K. and in the U.S. So for different countries more or less.
Damilola:
That’s amazing. Well done. So beyond Keble, what’s your professional background like and why did you co-found Keble?
Josemaria:
I have a background in accounting and finance. I’ve also been a fund manager for some family offices here in Nigeria. So parents-wise, I think I grew up in a very structured real estate environment. My parents are also developers. I’ve always wondered how can I make it possible for the average person to assess, you know, existing investment opportunities easily.
So I think that’s where the sparkly came from.
Damilola:
Amazing. So how long is able to go?. So what has the journey been like from the Idea stage to your MVP and to where you’re currently at?
Josemaria:
Three years and we’re doing a couple of things. I think as a team, as a founding team, we are probably five years in the making. When we started out, we were doing a test and a lot of things in the markets to see which one actually stuck with our target audience. And I think most of the founding team was very early in their career.
We didn’t know anyone technically. We didn’t know that we were building a tech company. But what this has to do with that point, I think one of the interesting things about being an entrepreneur now is getting to know your customers better, understanding their pain points and hopefully finding some sense of discovery along the way that helps you grow really fast. So that’s really where we are at this point and along the line where Keble was conceived.
Damilola:
Did you have the idea of a global market or was based on the need as they evolved?
Josemaria:
Yeah, it was. We never thought of any global markets. We’re just thinking that we are Nigerians. We include the affected area that’s right. We have enough problems and how do we solve these existing problems? That’s we we continued growing. We actually noticed that even developers in other countries were having similar problems with developers related to developers here. And we saw an opportunity for Nigerians also to tap into those markets. So it was virtually by chance, to be honest, like we never thought of globally related investments at all.
Damilola:
Compliance, which is the gospel that we preach at Youverify, I would really like your thoughts on that. You take it very seriously although you don’t operate in core financial technology space where everyone would assume that compliance is non-negotiable.
So the first question would be how do you perceive the current pace of regulatory changes and how has it impacted businesses in your sector?
Josemaria:
Oh, everyone knows I like regulation and it’s been always there since we started. When we started, there was no really regulatory framework at that point was literally like a very bare market at that point.
Anyone could do anything. But I always saw it coming due to my finance background, you know, and obviously you need to keep yourself in some sense of compliance. So for us, we started out suites getting a trustee involved in all of our financial, transactions. So they knew about the properties, cost, and location as it was really critical to get some sense of, oversights on our operations.
We had to make sure that all the properties had proper documentation, the developer had some level of track record, all of that.
And in this space, there was no regulatory framework to sort of guide us in that. So we really had to guide ourselves and hopefully, I think as we grew we would be sort of providing some of our learnings to help the government make those informed decisions.
But I think the major thing for founders in our space is just to make sure that you have this sense of understanding of your customers and respective regulations.
Damilola:
Certainly, I think one important thing that I noted that Keble did is to put compliance as an in-design concept rather than an afterthought.
Josemaria:
Yeah, I think that’s one major issue that a lot of founders and developers fail to acknowledge, right? Compliance is not an afterthought but many startups are more focused on growth. They forget the importance of compliance.
Damilola:
It is an in-design concept, you know. So yeah, but thank you for that insight. So I would go on to my next question. You’ve spoken extensively about technology for compliance. There’s the advent of AI, biometric verifications, and all sort of technologically backed concepts that services providers all around the world.
Technology has transformed compliance processes. Could you provide examples of technology-driven solutions that have been effective in managing compliance within the real estate markets in which you operate while minimizing no effort?
Josemaria:
Yes, I’ll just give you an example of what happened recently in the capital. So there was a time we woke up and so on, and signed up on the platform with over 1000 accounts. The goal of that person was to siphon money through the platform. We woke up that morning. I was like, Who is this person? It’s what’s going on.
We needed a platform that would enable us to sort of understand this person, and know who this person is. People are literally moving money and the company has no idea who they are or the source of the funds.
It might be a good thing for most tech founders because money is coming in, however, you can get into trouble if it’s illegal money. Youverify is one of our favourites right now as it helps us know if this person has actually done a proper KYC under the platform.
So I think founders need to be very careful about fraud, especially when it comes to technology, especially when you’re in the financial space. You need to know exactly who’s investing, who is transacting money, so that you’re sort of protected.
I mean we have so many companies that are currently facing some, you know, legal issues from regulatory penalty and fine. And before they solve it, it’s out there in the media, Right? It’s already affecting your reputation.
We paused operations for a while because of compliance reasons and it was a difficult situation because as a business and as a venture-backed company, yes, you’re meant to demonstrate month-on-month growth.
That’s a bold move because you need to fix the back end for the front end to work. That was only the thought process and it’s it has helped us to when we go back in and set everything good before proceeding
I think you’ll be happier as a founder if you’re able to go back to basics first and fix it before scaling.
Damilola:
So how did you move from manual to technology in terms of your compliance? Because I’m sure you started you had some manual KYC.
Josemaria:
There was a time when we knew every investor on the platform but right now I don’t know most of them. Youverify’s AML solution was helpful because it allowed us to sort of understand where these customers coming from, and who they are, and so to make the investment process easier for them because it’s not just for us, it’s for them as well.
Getting a technology platform like Youverify that enables you to make sure that you’re compliant, especially from the customer end, is really important. It helps us because it allows customers to trust us more seeing these processes in place.
Damilola:
Thank you I’m glad that we can, give you that seamless process of onboarding your client. So on a lighter note, what do you do in your leisure time?
Josemaria:
I sleep, you know, get it off of sleep after I’m done working. I also read. So then occasionally just hang out with friends. I think that’s really important. Connects. It’s outside of work, right?
Damilola:
Of course. Talking about team compliance, is not just a founder’s business. It’s not just about management. It concerns everybody in a team. So what’s your workforce compliance program like?
Josemaria:
Right now I’m leading compliance generally in the team where we have a lawyer that has a track record of compliance. I think he even helped in crafting some regulations with the SEC a couple of years back. So that’s really important. He gave us some, he gave us some understanding of what we need to do as a company to sort of stay compliant. We also have our trustees who help us navigate the landscape.
Damilola:
So the very final question, what would your advice be to anyone who is looking to build a platform like it? Well, I mean, take inspiration, not necessarily, you know, exactly what Keble does, but just experience an IQ cue from what you already have.
Josemaria:
I think having a strong team is important. Having a team that can down the stands, the market’s really well, and that can also change quickly, you know, adapt quickly to different environments and provide solutions for certain problems. So I think that’s one, having a comprehensive in my sight is really important because that helped us to stay afloat when we were asked to, trying to figure out how to push things.
There’s a reason why Keble is sort of probably leading the market right now in terms of fractionalized investments. It’s because we had to settle a lot of the compliance issues early on and partner with the right people to get things done. So getting your compliance really solid to get good is important. Having solid real asset developers as partners is also critical.
There’s a lot of things that can go wrong with the wrong partner and we’re just lucky to get the right people involved in most of the projects that we do. So making sure that all the Q I be for the real estate developers, make sure that we have the ICAC ready, making sure that they have the ability in the right place and meeting at the right time and they’re getting the right structures in place for those places.
So if you have those things set, I think you’re good to go.
Damilola:
Thank you so much. It was a pleasure to have you on our flagship podcast. We look forward to seeing you do great. I think, out in the global market.
Josemaria:
Thank you so much. So happy to be here.
