We caught up with Business Design Competition 2025 winner Bahadur Lal, the innovative mind behind StateMate: an AI-driven financial reporting for effortless US GAAP compliance!
For those who may not be familiar, can you give us a quick overview of what StateMate is and the problem it solves?
BL: StateMate automates the preparation of financial statements from various pieces of source data and reports. Currently, teams spend a lot of time cleaning, reconciling, and formatting to generate financial statements. We're building a solution that handles these repetitive tasks so professionals can focus on the review instead of the tedious preparation.
What inspired you to create StateMate? Was there a particular experience or insight that sparked the idea?
BL: I was experimenting with AI tools when they became widely available and realized their potential for solving a lot of workflows in the accounting industry that have been overlooked for decades. The connection was obvious, since I was dealing with tedious, repetitive financial reporting tasks every day, but technology has not been able work well with natural language in data, until now. It seemed like a perfect match between emerging technology and a real industry pain point.
How did it feel to be named the winner of the 2025 Business Design Competition? What does that recognition mean to you?
BL: Winning was unexpected and validating. I entered primarily to test the idea and get feedback. Having experienced judges recognize the potential meant a lot and confirmed I was on the right track. I'm very grateful to Enterprise Cayman and Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) for creating this platform.
Has your idea evolved or pivoted in any way since Pitch Day?
BL: The core concept remains unchanged, but my execution strategy has shifted. I initially wanted to build all features and perfect the product. Now I'm focused on building and releasing an MVP to get the product in front of users as quickly as possible.
Cayman Enterprise City CEO and Enterprise Cayman Chairman, Charlie Kirkconnell and Enterprise Cayman Programme Manager, Alyssa Manderson presents Bahadur Lal with the 2025 Business Design Competition Project of the Year Award
If you could go back to Pitch Day, what would you tell yourself?
BL: Just to not be too nervous. As long as you've done your preparation there is nothing to worry about. When you know your product, you can confidently handle any question or challenge.
Are there any specific tools, resources, or connections that have helped you the most since the competition?
BL: The Enterprise Cayman sessions at Signal House are very enjoyable and informative and it's great to catch up with my peers when I bump into them. The competition also created networking opportunities that wouldn't have existed otherwise. AI tools like ChatGPT/Claude have been instrumental in organising and developing my thoughts, but it’s important not to outsource too much of your critical thinking to AI, otherwise you risk becoming too dependent on them.
How would you describe the impact of the BDC experience on your confidence and decision-making as a founder?
BL: It significantly boosted my confidence. Before the competition, I knew the idea had merit, but the positive reception helped me trust my instincts and validated that it is a problem worth solving.
Bahadur Lal presenting at the 2025 Business Design Competition Pitch Day Event
What advice would you give to someone thinking about applying to next year's BDC?
Apply, even if you don't feel completely prepared. The process itself refines your thinking and creates valuable connections. You don't need to have everything figured out.
Visit www.statemate.co to learn more about StateMate. To learn more about the Business Design Competition and apply, visit https://www.enterprisecayman.ky/business-design-competition.