Dive into the full conversation on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Welcome back to The Startup Leap Newsletter #14—#RealTalk #RealLessons From Founders Who Took The Startup Leap 🚀

💡 Meet Carmelle Cadet, founder of EmTech, the fintech modernising central banks to power financial inclusion globally.

Growing up in Haiti, Carmelle experienced the struggles of limited financial access firsthand.

After leading blockchain innovation at IBM, she took the leap to launch EmTech in 2019—securing her first customer with just mock-ups and landing a $12M raise to fuel her vision.

From navigating solo-founder challenges to pioneering digital currency infrastructure, Carmelle’s story is one of grit, ambition, and transforming global financial systems.

Want to connect with Carmelle? Find her on LinkedIn and Twitter ✨

In this episode, we sit down with Carmelle to hear:

• Her bold leap from IBM to founding EmTech (00:02:30),
  
  

• Landing her first customer with just a mock-up (00:10:45),
  
  

• Raising $12M for a niche market (00:35:40),
  
  

• Creating value for central banks (00:42:00),

….and so much more!

Key takeaways:

TL;DR:

• Adapt to Immediate Customer Needs: Pivot early to address urgent problems.
  

• Solo Founder Strength: When her co-founder dropped out, Carmelle took the leap alone, juggling product, fundraising, and leadership while leaning on her network to keep momentum.
  

• Trust Drives Bureaucratic Sales: In regulated industries, credibility and understanding customer pain points, paired with thought leadership, are crucial for breaking through long sales cycles.

• 💡 Adapting to Customer Needs: Pivoting for Progress (00:19:00):
  
  Carmelle started EmTech with the vision of helping central banks digitise cash using blockchain.
  
  But early conversations revealed that central banks weren’t ready to adopt long-term solutions.
  
  Instead of pushing her initial vision, she pivoted to focus on building core financial infrastructure, like API-led solutions, that solved immediate challenges such as real-time data reporting and compliance.
  
  “We realised that before we could talk about blockchain, we needed to fix the foundations—things like outdated systems and manual processes.”
  
  This approach helped her secure partnerships with central banks in Africa, including the Bank of Ghana, where EmTech enabled real-time financial data reporting for the first time.
  
  Listening to your customers and solving their most urgent problems can help you build trust and lay the groundwork for bigger, long-term innovations.
  
  

• 🚀 Navigating Challenges as a Solo Founder (00:28:15):
  
  Carmelle’s leap wasn’t without setbacks.
  
  On the day she resigned from IBM to start EmTech, her intended co-founder backed out, leaving her to build the company solo.
  
  “I was the steady paycheck in my family, with a two-year-old at home, and my co-founder decided he couldn’t take the risk. It was terrifying, but I knew I had to push forward.”
  
  She leaned on her network for support, hired interim team members to fill skill gaps, and personally took on roles ranging from product management to fundraising.
  
  Key Takeaway? Be prepared to wear many hats in the early days, but stay focused on the bigger picture.
  
  

• 🎯 Breaking into Bureaucratic Industries (00:42:00):
  
  Selling to central banks, with their long sales cycles and complex procurement processes, required Carmelle to develop patience and a deep understanding of their operations.
  
  “We positioned ourselves as a modern IBM for central banks, focused entirely on their pain points. That differentiation built trust.”
  
  She also embraced thought leadership—moderating panels and speaking at events—which led to introductions with key decision-makers and her first partnerships with central banks in Africa.
  
  In highly regulated industries, trust and credibility are everything.
  
  Key takeaway? Invest in understanding your customer’s needs and leverage thought leadership to build your network.
  
  Carmelle’s journey mirrors lessons from Sabrina Del Prete’s (founder of fintech Kore Labs) episode, where she tackled similarly long sales cycles.
  
  Sabrina recommended strategies like offering free, time-boxed trials to validate quickly and reduce friction, as well as investing in certifications like ISO 27001 to ease due diligence.
  
  

Want to hear more? Dive into the full conversation on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

🎥 Get a Glimpse of the Action Below…

@thestartupleappod

📣 What does it take to leap from corporate comfort to global innovation? Find out from Carmelle Cadet, Founder of EmTech. On this episode ... See more

🚀 What resonated most with you? Share your biggest takeaways from this episode with us on YouTube. 

Let’s keep the conversation going!

Resources to help you take the Leap📚

🎯The Gender Gap Holding Back Africa’s Digital Transformation

🚀Google: Accelerating scientific breakthroughs with an AI co-scientist

📚Research report: Realtech - (Re)building Europe's critical industries

Thanks for reading 💜

Let us know what you loved, what you’d like more of, or any questions you’d love us to explore in future episodes!

Catch up on previous newsletters here, and if you think someone else would enjoy it, they can sign up here.

You can read more about TSL on our website and follow us on our YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, X and TikTok channels so you never miss an update!

Want to sponsor this newsletter, have any burning questions for experienced founders or suggestions? 📰 → drop us an email! 

TSL Team 💜