Twenty years ago, Serge Amouzou was still a youth living in the West African republic of Togo. Today, he lives in San Francisco and is the founder and CEO of Finpro (formerly Finmod). This fintech start-up applies artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to help businesses forecast financials.
Amouzou recently discussed Finpro and his road to creating it with Dan Kihanya of the Founders Unfound podcast. A serial entrepreneur himself, Kihanya uses his platform to showcase founders from underrepresented communities, both in the tech realm and beyond.
What Is Finpro?
According to Amouzou, Finpro's technology enables teams to forecast financials 10 times faster than the hours typically spent building business models in spreadsheets. It achieves this by drawing from multiple data sources, such as accounting software, bank accounts, and payroll systems. You can even throw your own inputs into the mix, such as headcounts you were projecting or your own revenue forecasts. Once all this data is in, Finpro uses its algorithms to surface insights and make recommendations.
Another important aspect of Finpro is its reporting capabilities. Often, businesses lack a standard format for financial reports, making it hard to communicate financials across teams. Finpro's forecasts are applicable to everything, including marketing budgets, sales, revenue, headcount, and expenses, so each team can output its reports using the same shared template. This, in turn, lets executives log into the software and see a complete picture of the company.
A Founder's Journey
Founding a fintech start-up wasn't always Amouzou's goal. He moved to the United States in 2005 to live with his mother, who was already in Baltimore, and to pursue an education. Because of his lifelong interest in the sciences, his first ambition was to become a neurosurgeon. However, the allure of computing technology and the entrepreneurship it encouraged steadily drew him in that direction—and much earlier in life than you might think. He incorporated his first business, a web development company, while still in high school.
Among other gems in Amouzou's talk with Kihanya is how English became his third language (after French and the indigenous language Ewé) once he arrived in the United States. He became so proficient in the language in just six months that he received a special academic commendation from then-President George W. Bush.
To hear more about Amouzou's entrepreneurship journey, listen to his full interview on the Founders Unfound podcast.
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