GTV GloboKasNet LLC ("GKN"), headquartered in Chevy Chase, MD, provides transaction processing and settlement services to banking, microfinance, and other institutions and business enterprises in developing countries, with initial focus on Peru. GKN's cashless payment solution is designed to expand financial inclusion for the poor in developing nations. At the crux of GKN's business model are KasNet Agents. GKN recruits, trains and equips KasNet Agents—a network of independent merchants that includes general stores, pharmacies, and hardware stores— with a point of sale (POS) device that enables them to perform all the functions of a bank teller or ATM machine using their own cash. GKN shares a mutually beneficial relationship with its partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) in which GKN is able to recruit KasNet Agents from among the MFIs' top clients, while the MFIs are able to reward its best clients with a new source of revenue.
Through its wholly owned GKN Peru subsidiary, GKN is currently providing services in Peru to MiBanco, as well as to four other commercial financial institutions, including BBVA Banco Continental.
www.globokas.net
Gino Picasso, CEO and Co-Founder
Prior to founding GKN, Gino was CEO of Mobile 365, a large provider of text messaging services, and led the sale of the company for approximately two times the value of the company when he took over as CEO six months earlier. Gino was also CEO of Iridium Satellite LLC, which re-launched services after the assets of the Iridium system were purchased by Iridium Satellite from the bankrupt Iridium LLC. He has prior corporate experience through roles with GE Spacenet/GE Americom, Telxon, and McKinsey. Gino holds an M.B.A. (with distinction) from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a B.S. in Mathematics (cum laude) from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Gino was born and raised in Lima, Peru.
Michael Deutschman, COO and Co-Founder
Michael started his career with the law firm of Weinberg & Green in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in real estate law and partnership taxation. He then co-founded and became President of Diversified Investment Associates Inc., a real estate and venture capital investment company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2001, Michael left Diversified and helped manage the acquisition by Iridium Satellite LLC of the assets of the Iridium system – the world's largest privately owned satellite communications system – from the bankruptcy estate of Iridium LLC. Michael then became Chief Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of Iridium Satellite. Michael retired from Iridium at the end of 2007 and is working full time in the business of GKN. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland (summa cum laude) and Columbia University School of Law (cum laude). |