Bal Krishna Joshi: Nepal’s e-commerce trailblazer

Quick facts 

Born on 16 Feb 1972 in Kathmandu

Went to Budhanilkantha School, Kathmandu

Under-grad from Lewis & Clark College, Oregon, US

Started Thamel.com, Nepal’s first e-commerce in 1998

Husband of Prabha Gautam

Father to Aafreen Joshi 

While I was in the US, I was madly interested in state-governed lotteries. I got involved in many such lotteries. In 1996, I signed a one-year contract with the National Recreation Center to run a lottery in Nepal named Lotto. It was a massive success. That was how I began my entrepreneurial career. I got to work in a technology-driven venture with some highly talented people at the center. I was sold. I fell in love with technology and technology-based business. 

Having long lived in the US, I had seen firsthand the rise of internet and e-commerce companies like Amazon and eBay. I thought of doing something similar in Nepal. 

In 1998, my friends and I started Thamel.com as a chat platform to connect potential buyers and sellers in the Thamel area. Many shops there started registering businesses on our website. As international phone calls were very expensive back then, this chat platform enabled them to communicate relatively cheaply. 

With the launch of our website—the first-ever digital or internet venture in Nepal—everyone got excited and our company saw a commendable pick-up within just a year of its establishment. 

However, in the second year, our business gradually lost pace. Businesses registered on our website were already flourishing and they thought they no longer needed our help. 

We began to struggle financially and were about to shut down. But, interestingly, we found out that some Nepalis living abroad were communicating with their family members in Nepal via the same chat platform on our website. This was unexpected. 

We then focused on connecting the families of migrant Nepalis. Something that could enable Nepali expatriates to purchase gifts and arrange for their delivery within Nepal, via Thamel.com. So the journey of e-commerce in Nepal started with a gift-sending platform. In fact, we were the first in the world to start an online gift-delivery venture. 

Customers of Thamel.com get Dashain goats in gifts, in Kathmandu, in 2001.

Another reason to focus on gift-delivery from abroad was Nepal’s poor internet quality back then. We would never have made it had we had relied on customers in Nepal to order goods via the internet. 

Discussing the agenda, one of my friends proposed delivering goats as Dashain gifts from migrant Nepalis to their families in Nepal. He was actually joking, but this idea stuck with me. 

By the time that Dashain was over, we did business of around $50,000 and sold goats from Mechi to Mahakali. The payment was made by Nepalis residing abroad and goats were delivered to their families in Nepal. So the online goat business made e-commerce legitimate in Nepal. 

This story of selling goats online became so popular that it was covered by BBC World Service too. After this, we started selling many things such as cakes, fruits, vegetables, and whatnot, until 2006. 

I have to say Thamel.com was an accident because we started it as a chat platform, which evolved into an e-commerce site. Also, there was no infrastructure for e-commerce in Nepal at that time and we registered it in the US in 2000. Only in 2001 did we register in Nepal as the first Nepali e-commerce and ‘.com register company’. 

After 2006, I moved to digital remittance with a company named ThamelRemit as customers started asking if they could send money to Nepal via my venture. As a non-resident Nepali (NRN), I always wanted to work on digital remittance in Nepal, as the existing protocol took a long time. 

In 2013, I registered another company, Machnet, which was the first in the world to focus on Remittance-As-A-Service (RaaS). It would use a democratic digital ecosystem to provide cross-border digital banking access to those at the base of the pyramid. In 2019, I also successfully lobbied with hundreds of US officials to remove barriers to entry for non-licensed entities offering hyper-local digital remittance services. It challenges the business model pioneered by Western Union in 1872, where only licensed entities could acquire customers. 

About him 

Prabha Gautam (Spouse) 

He is a true dreamer. He could not otherwise have set the foundation for digital commerce in Nepal. Bal can also inspire people in a short time. Even if you meet him for a while, he can make you feel comfortable, and I find that such an inspiring quality. He is the most chill guy who knows how to enjoy life without wasting a single minute. 

Swarnim Wagle (Friend) 

Bal is an agile tech pioneer whose risk-laden ventures, often ahead of time, have inspired young entrepreneurs, created opportunities, and connected Nepal with the world. From being an early adopter of e-commerce and e-remit to now creating a digital bank to service an expanding gig economy, Bal excels in solving local tech problems that can potentially be applied and scaled across borders. 

Nabin Joshi (Colleague) 

It has been an honor to work with a visionary and passionate tech entrepreneur who has shaped the digital banking ecosystem and built a cross-border democratic digital society. Bal is very eloquent in expressing the most challenging concept in a way that the ordinary person understands. I value his friendship, for he is kind, compassionate, and humble. He is always there for his colleagues.

A shorter version of this profile was published in the print edition of The Annapurna Express on May 26.