Village Capital has named the 32 startups, which span Africa, Asia and the Middle East, which have been selected to join its Financial Solutions for Migrants program.
This is an accelerator for impact-driven startups developing digital financial inclusion solutions for migrants.
Financial Solutions for Migrants is funded by the Impact-Linked Fund for Gender Inclusive Fintech, managed by the Impact-Linked Finance Fund and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Austrian Development Agency.
The aim of the accelerator is to support startups with the development and refinement of their products and solutions to meet the needs of migrant communities, including women and refugees.
Members of the program will receive a combination of in-person and virtual investment readiness training.
Three of the companies in this cohort are based in Uganda. One of these is Finhazi, which offers a digital platform to connect the underserved to financial services. The others are Payclide, a digital wallet, and Patapia, which provides refugee women with a market-based pathway to economic empowerment.
Nigeria, Rwanda and Kenya each have two companies representing them in the cohort. Kenya-based Kotani Pay is an on-ramp/ off-ramp service provider connecting blockchain apps, protocols, fintechs, and businesses to local payment channels. The other Kenyan company is Tumia, which aims to be the first mobile money platform facilitating money transactions across East Africa.
One of the Nigerian companies is HerVest, which provides financial growth services from target savings, impact investing, and credit-specifically for smallholder women farmers and women-owned/led businesses in Nigeria. The other is Regxta, which offers access to financial services for the unbanked people in rural and peri urban communities.
As for Rwanda, the companies are Exuss, which is building Africa’s largest marketplace for microloans and micro insurance, and PayingTone, a 30-day, digital micro credit provider.
The remaining African companies in the cohort are Ghana-based Fleri, a healthcare platform for immigrants, and Senegal-based Susu, which makes healthcare accessible and affordable for Africans.
Moving to Asia, six companies based in India have joined the cohort. These are mobile payments platform YuvaPay, micro loans provider Vitto Micro-finance.AI, microfinance Institution Mitrata, home improvement lender Bandhu, affordable credit provider Chalo Network and financial wellness platform Fatakpay.
Three Singaporean companies also joined the accelerator. One of these companies is We Are Caring, an ethical employment agency for migrant domestic workers in South-East Asia providing a debt-free recruitment model.
The other two companies are ZADA Solutions, a decentralised identity network that enables the exchange of credentials, and Lucy, a mobile banking and business building services app.
Mother Finance, which is Myanmar’s first licensed fully digital lender, and Rahat, a Nepal-based open-source, cash and voucher assistance platform, are also part of the new accelerator.
Finally, there were 11 companies to join the accelerator program that are focused on the Middle East. This includes three Egyptian companies, real-time payments platform XPay, neobank for migrants Balad and Credify, which offers automated credit scoring.
Three of the companies are from the UAE, money management platform SAV Technologies, digital onboarding platform Uqudo and financial inclusion solution provider Monak E-Services.
Other companies in the cohort are US-based humanitarian aid provider Aseel, US-based mobile payments platform Empowch, Qatar-based financial services provider Cwallet Services, Jordan-based mobile payment service provider Dinarak and Lebanon-based remittance and cash out aggregator Purpl.
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