The newly announced investment fund from Accion Venture Lab is set to smoothen the path for success for inclusive FinTech startups.
Accion Venture Lab is the venture arm of Accion, the non-profit set up to create a financially inclusive world. The initiative was launched in 2012 with an investment fund worth $10m. The new round will be worth $23m and will be supplemented by an additional $10m investment from Accion. That brings the total capital managed by Accion Venture Lab to $43m.
So far the portfolio has focused on evolving FinTech startups dedicated to changing key trends in financially underserved communities. Accion Venture Lab has since the launch injected capital into companies in the InsurTech, agricultural finance, digital lending, holistic MSME finance and personal financial management space.
“Despite progress, three billion people still have no safe or simple way to save money, get a loan to build a business, pay a bill, or protect their health and property with insurance,” said Michael Schlein, president and CEO of Accion. “FinTech startups are finding new ways to provide products and services that help these underserved people. Yet often startups lack the capital and strategic support they need to grow and scale their impact. Accion Venture Lab addresses this need.”
Vikas Raj, managing director of Accion Venture Lab, added, “There is strong potential for inclusive fintech startups to reach historically underserved communities while generating returns, and the oversubscription of the Accion Venture Lab fund is great validation of our early work investing in more than 40 innovative businesses operating in 30 markets. This new pool of capital enables us to scale our efforts and remain at the forefront of seed stage investing in inclusive FinTech.”
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