An app designed to help small businesses with their finances is a project completed this year by a recent immigrant to Central New York.
That entrepreneur, Pratiksha Bista, was aided by services provided through business development groups in Utica.
Bista earned an MBA in Business Analytics from Utica University. The native of Nepal moved to the Utica area in 2024, and took advantage of resources available from organizations based at a downtown business incubator facility, including the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) on Broad St. in Utica.
That operation is hosted by Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) and its ‘thINCubator’ operation. MVCC and the Small Business Development Center provide no-cost advice, training and research to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Bista, with the help of her software development team and AI tools, created an app designed to provide small business owners with a quick, affordable system to track expenses and increase profitability.
“They are really good at what they do,” Bista said when referring to entrepreneurs, “but when it comes to managing their finances…they are not tech savvy. I saw the gap and the market opportunity.”
Zach Steffen is Regional Director at Mohawk Valley Small Business Development Center. He said the organization worked with Bista on developing the app.
“And then helped her with some strategic things about how to reach customers, how to position the product, as well as helping her prepare her business pitch for several business plan competitions,” Steffen said.
Bista said her app, called, ‘Namnu,’ is free to use with its basic functions, and there is a $25 a month charge for the ability to export certain documents.
Bista likes having Utica as her home base for the new app, saying that she sees “tons of opportunities here,” and does not plan on trying to move her operation to a large city.
Sean Farrell, Special Projects Officer at the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce said that in recent months he has seen “more and more of these smaller tech startups happening.” Farrell said that despite its relatively small size, Utica has a lot to attract the new entrepreneurs, both in terms of support services and quality of life.
