The Missing Middle:

Small business growth is the single largest driver of job creation and economic growth worldwide. Nevertheless, there is an over two trillion dollar gap in unmet financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets who are said to be stuck in the "missing middle" - too big for microfinance and too small for private equity. While there is a significant social and commercial opportunity to serve this SME market segment, this opportunity has yet to be realized given the high transaction costs, lack of collateral and opaque markets characterized by developing countries.

The Entrepreneurial Finance Lab's Solution:

Started as a research program at Harvard's Center for International Development, the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab is now a for-profit social enterprise that provides commercial banks, intergovernmental organizations and impact investors with technology that measures risk and potential among the un/under-banked. EFL has partnered with several leading financial institutions across the developing world, and has a proven ability to significantly reduce defaults and unlock access to finance for large portions of the SME market that would otherwise be stuck in the missing middle. 

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