A South African startup, FinanceGPT, is making strides in the field of financial analysis with its generative AI technologies. The company, founded in 2020, initially aimed to assist startups without internal finance teams and venture capitalists in evaluating the financial health of their portfolios in Africa. However, FinanceGPT has experienced significant growth in its clientele over the past two years, attracting a diverse range of clients including investment managers and finance officers seeking to streamline fiscal reporting.
Key Takeaway
- South African startup FinanceGPT is leveraging generative AI and GPT-4 to simplify financial analysis for a wide range of clients, including startups, investment managers, and finance teams.
- The company is developing lean language models, such as FinanceGPT-SSA, to ensure accurate financial insights on African markets and is working on voice assistants to provide financial advisory services in local languages.
- As a member of Nvidia Inception, FinanceGPT utilizes Nvidia technology to optimize its AI solutions and address the challenges of limited accessibility and high costs in financial services.
Generating Financial Ratios and Predictions with AI
The core of FinanceGPT’s offering lies in its proprietary AI models and its utilization of GPT-4, a state-of-the-art generative AI model. Through these technologies, FinanceGPT can generate financial ratios that provide an overall snapshot of a business, predict future performance, and forecast valuations based on uploaded accounting data. This data is then used to create a comprehensive financial analytics dashboard and text-based reports that can be easily shared among stakeholders.
Co-founded by CEO Phiwa Nkambule and CFO Sibo Mkhonta, FinanceGPT initially focused on assisting startups in organizing their finances for investor readiness. However, the startup quickly realized the broader demand for its services, attracting portfolio managers, retail traders, and company finance teams who use FinanceGPT to manage their investment business and portfolios more efficiently.
Localizing Financial Analysis in Africa
While FinanceGPT has gained clients from across the globe, it remains committed to its main focus: Africa. The startup is currently developing FinanceGPT Patches, a set of lean language models designed to address the information gaps and biases found in large language models, such as GPT-4, when applied to emerging markets. One of these models, FinanceGPT-SSA, is specifically tailored to native African languages and aims to provide accurate financial insights into sub-Saharan Africa markets. Similar models are also being developed for the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the Asia-Pacific region.
Phiwa Nkambule explains, “These small language models work alongside other foundational models to fill the gaps left by large language models when it comes to developing countries. We acknowledge that the macro-economic dynamics in these regions are unique and different, and we want to ensure that our AI technology captures this distinctiveness accurately.”
Empowering Financial Advisory with Voice Assistants
FinanceGPT is also working on a financial voice assistant, capable of providing financial advisory services in certain African languages. This voice assistant will be accessible through FinanceGPT’s digital channels as well as through partnerships with financial institutions targeting customers in rural areas. By incorporating local languages, the startup aims to make financial advice more accessible and personalized to underserved communities.
As a member of Nvidia Inception since October 2022, FinanceGPT benefits from the technology and resources provided by Nvidia. The startup leverages Nvidia GPUs and the NeMo SDK to build a unique solution that utilizes generative AI to address the limited accessibility and high costs associated with financial advice and consultancy services.
