Assel Beglinova is the Co-Founder and CEO of Paperstack, a fintech platform providing non-dilutive working capital and financial insights to e-commerce and direct-to-consumer brands across North America. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, she is recognized for democratizing access to capital for small and diverse online businesses.

Assel moved from Kazakhstan to Toronto at 18 as an international student, studying Finance and Accounting at Seneca College before building a 5-year career in banking focused on high-net-worth tax planning and small business lending. After being laid off during the pandemic, she channeled her firsthand experience of broken financial systems into launching Paperstack in 2021.

Assel also founded Tea Club Toronto, a community to support fellow founders with startup challenges, where she met her co-founder Vadim Lidich. She is a passionate advocate for diverse founders, noting that over 84% of Paperstack's customers are businesses run by women and underrepresented entrepreneurs.

Under Assel's leadership, Paperstack was accepted into Google for Startups, Communitech's Fierce Founders, and the Techstars Equitech accelerator, and has raised over $10.4M in funding from investors including Techstars Ventures, Gaingels, and Matchstick Ventures. Paperstack's proprietary underwriting platform analyzes over 100 real-time data points to deliver funding decisions within 24 to 48 hours.

Paperstack has processed over 1,500 funding applications, helped e-commerce businesses grow by as much as 82% year-over-year, and maintains an 84% customer retention rate. The platform serves brands selling on Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, and WooCommerce, tapping into a global market of over 40 million e-commerce businesses.